[2][3][4][5] Henry Wellcome's interest was the history of medicine in a broad sense and included subjects such as alchemy or witchcraft, but also anthropology and ethnography.

Henry Wellcome began collecting books seriously in the late 1890s, using a succession of agents and dealers, and by travelling around the world to gather whatever could be found.

Wellcome's first major entry into the market took place at the auction of William Morris's library in 1898, where he was the biggest single purchaser, taking away about a third of the lots.

Their primary duty was to use the income generated by the trust to support ongoing biomedical research, but they were also charged with fostering the study of medical history through the care and maintenance of the collections.

Comprises 12,000 manuscripts and 4,000 printed books in 43 different languages and written on materials including paper, palm leaf, silk, ivory, metal, bone, bamboo and tree bark.

[9] A medical prescription from ancient Egypt, written on papyrus (c. 1100 BCE), is the oldest document in the Wellcome Library.

More than 100,000 prints, drawings, paintings, photographs and other media, ranging from the 14th century to the present day, and geographically from Japan and China in the east through Tibet and India to Turkey, Europe and the Americas, with smaller collections dealing with Africa and Australasia.

In accordance with Wellcome's philosophy, the works show the historical and cultural contexts of medicine as well as internal developments in medical techniques and practices.