he hagströmer medico-historical library contains the older and for a long time dormant collections earlier kept by the libraries of the Swedish Society of Medicine, founded in 1807, and the Karolinska Institutet (KI), founded in 1810. The oldest and most valuable parts derive in fact from the Old Collegium Medicum (1663­1812), whose library and manuscript collection were taken over by KI in 1816. Also the Swedish Academy of Sciences, founded in 1739, transferred their medical books to KI in 1848. Practically all the books derive from donations and gifts from some of the most distinguished Swedish physicians of the 18th and 19th centuries, but many valuable donations of private special collections were added in the early 20th century, among them the library of Gustaf Retzius.

Today the hagströmer medico-historical library holds around 20 000 rare and important books, the majority printed before 1860, the oldest printed in Venice in 1488, as well as a manuscript collection, the majority of which derives from the old Collegium Medicum (1663-1812) consisting of correspondence and lecture notes written down by pupils of renowned professors including Linnaeus. Since its foundation in 1997 our library has been enriched by new purchases as well as by donations of archives and offprint collections of prominent researchers and Nobel Laureates. In addition we are continuously building up a useful reference library (today over 4000 items).