The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, founded in 1505, is the oldest medical institution of its kind in the world and the College holds the largest collection of medical, anatomical and pathological material in Scotland, dating from Roman times to the present day. Surgeons’ Hall, designed by Sir William Playfair opened in July 1832. The entire upper floor of the building was dedicated to the museum, which was comprised of the College’s teaching collections of Comparative Anatomy and Pathology. Although much of the Comparative Anatomy collection has been dispersed in the intervening years, the pathology collection has survived almost intact. It is probably one of the few early nineteenth century medical museums in the world that still has most of its original collection on display and in the original space provided for it. It is Scotland’s oldest medical museum.