• Summary of collections

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    In addition to holding the Society's Charter Book, Charter and its administrative records, the Archives hold an unrivalled collection of correspondence and papers which depict the development not only of the Society, but also of natural philosophy and science. The work of many eminent scientists is well represented, and our collections include the correspondence and manuscripts of Isaac Newton, Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, Edmund Halley, Robert Hooke and John Herschel, amongst many others.

    The Archives also include large collections of the personal papers of some of the twentieth century's leading scientists, including Howard Florey, Otto Loewi, Henry Dale, John Vane and Thomas Gold.

    Other items of interest include the minutes of Royal Society meetings from 1660 onwards, including those of Council and Committees from 1663 onwards.

    Jump to:
    Administrative Archives
    Administrative Correspondence
    Scientific Archives
    Biographical Records of Fellows
    Audio-Visual Archive
    Manuscripts (General)
    Miscellaneous Manuscripts
    Personal Papers

    Administrative archives

    Minutes of meetings from 1660 onwards

    Minutes of Council and Committees from 1663 onwards

    Council Documents 1900-1930

    Minutes of Officers and Agenda 1926-87

    Domestic Manuscripts 1662-1884

    Modern Domestic Archives 1870-1981

    Account Books 1660-1768, 1867-1976

    Deeds, Charters from 1662 and Charter Book

    Press cuttings and printed ephemera

    Administrative correspondence

    Letter Books 1661-1740, 1885-1931

    Royal Society Letters 1737-1799

    Miscellaneous Correspondence 1800-1925

    International Relations Archive 1963-1978

    Scientific archives

    Register Books 1661-1738

    Early Letters 1656-1740

    Classified Papers 1660-1741

    Letters and Papers 1741-1806

    Philosophical Transactions 1807-1865

    Archived Papers from 1768

    Proceedings Papers 1882-1894

    Referees Reports from 1832 onwards

    Meteorological Archives 1706-1915

    Biographical records of Fellows

    Certificates of Election and Candidature from 1731 onwards

    Bullochs Roll 1663-1940

    Audio-visual archive

    Sound, Film and Video Recordings from 1931 onwards

    Manuscripts (general)

    This series was created to encompass all collections of documents that were not generated by the Society itself but were created by or relate to Fellows. Date coverage is from the 15th century onwards. The series also contains some in-house records.

    Miscellaneous Manuscripts

    Single manuscript letters or small groups of related documents

    Personal papers

    Sir Frederick Charles Bawden (1908-1972), plant pathologist

    Lord Blackett (1897-1974), nuclear physicist

    Sir Charles Blagden (1748-1820), physician

    Robert Boyle (1627-1691), natural philosopher and chemist

    Sir George Lindor Brown (1903-1971), physiologist

    Sir Henry Dale (1875-1968), physiologist-pharmacist

    Sir Alfred Charles Glyn Egerton (1886-1959), engineer

    Lord Florey (1898-1968), experimental pathologist

    Sir John Henry Gaddum (1900-1965), pharmacologist

    Thomas Gold (1920-2004), astronomer

    Sir John Herschel (1792-1871), astronomer

    Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood (1897-1967), physical chemist, biochemist

    Sir James Hopwood Jeans (1877-1946), mathematician, physicist, astronomer

    Otto Loewi (1873-1961), pharmacologists and physiologist

    Sir John Lubbock (1803-1865), astronomer

    Sir Robert Robinson (1886-1975), chemist

    Sir Francis Eugen Simon (1893-1956), physicist

    John Smeaton (1724-1792), civil engineer

    Sir Arthur George Tansley (1871-1955), plant ecologist

    Sir Harold Warris Thompson (1908-1983), physical chemist

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Researching the Royal Society's library and archive collections

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