| Description | Guthrie was an ear nose and throat surgeon who became a medical historian in later life. He was born in Dysart on 8th September 1885. He attended University of Edinburgh, graduating MD in 1907 and went on to serve in the Royal Army Medical Corps and the RAF during the First World War. After the war he settled in Edinburgh and became a specialist in otolaryngology at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children and the Ear Nose and Throat Infirmary as well as lecturing on the subject. He became particularly interested in speech disorders and wrote a pioneering book with George Seth titled 'Speech in Childhood' published in 1935. After retirement from practice he held the lectureship in the history of medicine from 1945-1956. In 1945 his widely acclaimed 'History of Medicine' was published and in 1948 he co-founded the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine. In 1965 he established a lectureship in the history of medicine at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He died in Edinburgh on 8th June 1975.
[Source: BMJ obituary 28 June 1975]
Contents: Correspondence, 1946; binders of notes and copies of books, c1912-c1958; personal papers, c1942-c1969; publications, 1902-1974; engraving of Sir Thomas Sydenham, 1746; papers relating to William Harvey, 1781-1969 |