William Munk

 

William Munk became the longest serving officer in the history of the College. In 1857, the post of Harveian Librarian had been vacant for 100 years. Munk was appointed to oversee the modern medical library which the College had decided to maintain and he served for the next 41 years.

During his time as Harveian Librarian, Munk oversaw considerable developments in the Library. He opened the library to non-College members and recommended collecting sets of journals, transactions and reports to make the library more useful. Munk arranged for books with damaged bindings to be restored and for the bookcases to be glazed to protect volumes from dust. In 1892, he introduced electric lighting to the Library.

Munk is now chiefly remembered as a medical historian. His first collection of biographical sketches of past fellows had not been intended for publication. Instead, Munk wrote ‘with the hope of supplying a want I had myself experienced’. Nevertheless, in 1861, his Roll of the Royal College of Physicians became the first volume in an obituary series which continues to this day. It proved so popular that a second edition was published in 1878. This extended to 1825, when the College moved to Pall Mall East. The most recent volume to be published is Volume XI, which was the first to appear both as a book and on the internet.

As a physician, Munk was a recognised authority on smallpox. He argued in favour of the increased use of narcotics and analgesics for pain relief. In 1887, he published a book on Euthanasia, or Medical Treatment in Aid of an Easy Natural Death, which proposes palliative care not the deliberate ending of life. He also wrote lives of two former Presidents, Henry Halford and JA Paris and brought out an edition of The Gold-Headed Cane.

Baillie’s widow gave the cane to the College in 1824. It is displayed in the Silver Room on the lower ground floor. The gold handle is engraved with the arms of its previous owners. This image shows the armorial shield of Anthony Askew.