Archive of the Royal Odonto-Chirurgical Society of Scotland

The archive comprises:

• • ROCS 1 Minutes and Transactions: Minute Books 1-19 (1867-2002); Transactions of the Odonto-Chirurgical Society of Scotland (1868-1958);
• • ROCS 2 Financial records: Treasurer’s Book (1881-1923); Accounts abstracts(1972-78); Account Book (1950-87); Treasurer’s Report (1992-2008);
• • ROCS 3 Correspondence: Letter from John Abercrombie (1844)); G.E.B. Moore's correspondence (1957-71); Donations (1951-58); Centenary Prize Essay correspondence (1973-76); Laetitia M. Brocklebank's correspondence (2004-06); Meeting announcement letters (1938-96);
• • ROCS 4 Administrative: Membership & Obligation Book (1867-1922); Papers relating to the National Register of Archives Scotland (1972); Membership Rolls (1990-98);
• • ROCS 5 Library: Printed catalogues (1880); Typescript catalogues (1939-54); Library's lending book (1908-39);
• • ROCS 6 Events and celebrations: Presidential addresses (1966-72); Centenary celebrations (1967-78); Centenary talk (1973-75); Centenary Prize essays (1976); Ephemera (1977-2011);
• • ROCS 7 Papers relating to the background and history of the Royal Odonto-Chirurgical Society: Historical Review (1927-62); Correspondence with the Scottish Home and Health Department (1966); Typescript lists of members, presidents and other charges (1971); Papers relating to P.R. Geissler, The First 130 Years, 1867-1997 (1997);
• • ROCS 8 Miscellaneous papers: Carte de visite (c.1860); Gertrude Herzfeld scrapbook (1949-81); Photographs of dental specimens (1959-61); Dr. Paul Geissler's documents (1995); Honorary Fellowship certificate (2009); Seal of the Royal Odonto-Chirurgical Society of Scotland.

The Royal Odonto-Chirurgical Society of Scotland was founded on the 18th March 1867 and is today the oldest dental society in the United Kingdom, if not the world, still actively functioning under its original title and upholding the original objectives. In its centenary year, 1967, the Society was granted a Royal Warrant, becoming the Royal Odonto-Chirurgical Society of Scotland. When the Society was established dentistry was unscientific and crude. The creation of the Royal Odonto-Chirurgical Society proved a major stimulus to the ethical and scientific progress of the profession in Scotland which continues to this day.

Arrangement was based on pre-existing paper catalogue.

Where indicated, some files are restricted access in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Access is by appointment only. Contact library@rcsed.ac.uk

Typed finding aid available. Former reference number GD6.

The preservation of the archive and creation of this catalogue was made possible through a Wellcome Trust Research Resources in Medical History Programme grant. Description compiled by Arturo Pinto.

The Royal Odonto-Chururgical Society gave ownership but retained intellectual property rights in its records when it deposited them with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1967

Further accruals are likely.

• Paul J. Geissler, The Royal Odonto-Chirurgical Society of Scotland: The First 100 Years, 1867-1997.
• J. Menzies Campbell, Dentistry Then and Now (Pickering & Inglis Ltd, Glasgow, 1963).