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Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934) is considered the father of modern neuroscience for his outstanding studies of the microanatomy, his observations regarding degeneration and regeneration, and his theories about the function, development and plasticity of virtually the whole central nervous system. Cajal was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1906 and, spite of the passed time, his work continues to captivate and stimulate modern neuroscientists. Some of his original possessions are housed at the Cajal Institute (CSIC), Madrid, Spain. The Cajal Institute preserves the items that Cajal bequeathed to its Institute, which together are referred to as “Cajal Legacy”: ““… my collection of microscopic slides, cupboards to keep them in and some scientific devices of my property, such as the microtome and two microscopes, a Zeiss model and another Leitz model, and finally, a Zeiss microphotographic device”.The Cajal Legacy also holds other items that Cajal's family has entrusted to the CSIC in homage to his memory.

We estimate that the Cajal Legacy houses a total of 30,218 items of a widely varied nature. These items have been divided into 26 groups for cataloguing and to facilitate their study: 1. Photographic archive (2,384); 2. Precision balances (2); 3. Photographic cameras (5); 4. Correspondence (2,584); 5. Ceramics (2); 6. Colorants, Reagents and Solutions (387); 7. Notebooks (11); 8. Scientific drawings2 (1.976); 9. Artistic drawings (2); 10. Diplomas and Certificates (109); 11. Sculptures (6); 12. Phonographs (1); 13 Books, Newspapers and Journals (7,000); 14. Handwritten manuscripts (1,952); 15. Gas lighters (3); 16. Medals, Decorations and Awards (25); 17. Optic microscopes (21), Boxes (5) and Microphotography devices (1); 18. Microtomes (3); 19. Furniture (20); 20. Straight razors (9); 21. Personal objects (15); 22. Paintings (10); 23. Histological slides3 (13,676); 24. Projectors (4); 25. Telescope (1); 26. Textiles (4).