The correspondence, papers and diaries of Sir Charles Blagden. Blagden's papers are interesting on several levels, generally for his close contact with European men of learning, and his relationship with Sir Joseph Banks. Blagden's professional researches are represented by medical notes in the boxed sequence. These are grouped with papers on other subject interests, including linguistics, e.g. a draft Tahitian-English dictionary, compiled from conversations with Omai, whom Blagden inoculated after Omai's voyage to England with James Cook. Blagden's interest in antiquities and travel is documented by diary entries, as is his intercourse with fellow scientists, particularly those associated with the founding of the Royal Institution.

Papers and correspondence, 1856-1968 (predominantly 1925-1966), of Sir (Gordon) Roy Cameron, comprising notebooks of lecture courses, 1925-1926, given by Cameron at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne; matriculation certificate at University of Freiburg im Breslau, 1927; other biographical and personal material, including printed matter and photographs; 14 letters and cards from Ludwig Aschoff, 1928-1937; scientific and personal correspondence, 1959-1965, with Professor Hou Pao-Chang, Cameron's collaborator on various scientific publications; correspondence on Linacre Lectures given by Cameron, 1964; research notebooks, annotated offprints and other working papers, 1961 and undated, and related correspondence, 1951, 1957-1958, 1961, the subjects including the liver, pulmonary oedema, and the spleen; notes and drafts for invitation lectures and articles, 1962-1966; draft report of the College of Pathologists to the Royal Commission on Medical Education, 1966; obituaries of Cameron and related correspondence with his friends and colleagues, 1966, 1968; material assembled for Cameron's proposed history of pathology, which he did not live to complete, including obituaries, notes and correspondence, 1965-1966, on Ludwig Aschoff, papers and correspondence, 1954-1965, on Julius Cohnheim, papers on Rudolf Virchow, including three letters of Virchow, 1891-1894, and other letters collected by Cameron, among them a letter from W L Begley to William Jenner to accompany a specimen sent to Jenner and William Sharpey, 1856, letters from Jenner to Thomas Barlow, 1891, and from Barlow to Cameron, 1935, concerning the specimen, four letters of R A Kolliker, 1862, three letters from Walter Pagel, 1954, 1961, and a letter from Peyton Rous, 1959.

The second accession comprises further papers of and relating to Cameron, 1917-1968, including various professional and personal certificates, 1917-1966, among them copies of Cameron's birth certificate, various medical registration certificates, and the certificate of his cremation; various photographs, 1920-1962 and undated, some unlabelled, including family photographs, holiday photographs, and formal occasions; correspondence between Cameron and Professor Cyril L Oakley, 1945-1965, on scientific, professional, personal and social matters; typescripts, 1951-1952, for an unpublished book by Cameron on immunology; two official letters to Cameron concerning his knighthood, 1957; Cameron's personal diaries, 1961-1963, including a trip to Italy and a trip to Australia and around the world; proofs of Cameron's Who's Who entries; press cuttings, 1954-1966, including various obituaries of Cameron, 1966; offprints of Cameron's obituaries from the Journal of Clinical Pathology, vol xx (1967), and Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, vol xiv (1968), and typescript of obituary from The Lancet, 10 Oct 1966; photostat of typescript address at Cameron's memorial service and printed order of service, 1966; letters of condolence on Cameron's death, 1966; miscellaneous printed and typescript material, including articles on scientific subjects and on the history of medicine by Cameron, and obituaries by Cameron of other scientists; various obituaries of scientists other than Cameron, including an offprint of Oakley's obituary of Alexander Thomas Glenny for Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, vol xii (1966), related correspondence, 1966, and other papers on Glenny including photographs and a typescript bibliography.

Papers of Henry Vandyke Carter, 1853-1855, comprising a manuscript volume of notes titled A Diary of Work done, with descriptions and illustrations of particular dissections etc, commencing June 25th 1853. relating to work carried out by Carter whilst a Student of Human and Comparative Anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Including topics such as remounting preparations, dissections, and work on museum catalogues. Carter's work has been countersigned by Frederic Carpenter Skey (Professor of Anatomy and Surgery from 1852) and Edward Stanley (Member of Council 1835-1862, and President in 1848 and 1857).

The collection is divided into four main groups: The first group contains papers relating to William Clift's work as conservator of the Hunterian Museum. This is the largest of the four groups and contains a number of sub divisions such as explanation and display of specimens, expanding the collections, administration of the museum, and correspondence. This group also contains the transcripts made by Clift and others of the Hunterian manuscripts. The second group contains work carried out by William Clift as an illustrator for publications. The third group contains a small amount of personal material that is in the collection. The fourth group contains transcripts and copies of manuscript material by William Clift that is held in other repositories such as the Natural History Museum.

Collection of note-books containing six volumes on Botany and Comparative Ostology, a Register of Photographs, and a Bicycling Diary. The 5 Botanical notebooks and the single volume on Comparative Ostology are illustrated with mounted and other drawings, some in pencil.

Papers of George Henry Hallett, 1848-1849, comprising a manuscript volume of notes taken whilst Hallett was Student of Anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, including topics such as dissections, preparations, and cataloguing. Hallett's work has been countersigned by Caesar Henry Hawkins (Member of the Court of Examiners 1849-1856).

Sir Henry Head's papers, 1891-1909, consist of his casebooks of patients with Herpes Zoster, with sketches and photographs, chiefly from Head's work at the London Hospital, 1891-1909, and his casebooks of patients with various diseases, with sketches and charts, from his work at the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Heart and Lungs, Victoria Park, 1894.

Jenner's diary, 1787-1806, containing his observations on the natural history of the cuckoo, and notes on his dissections of other birds and various domestic animals.

The papers contain Keith's extensive correspondence, diaries (1908-1954), reports on work as conservator annual (1931-1934) and quarterly reports (1928-1932), talks, drafts of publications, unpublished manuscripts; drawings, notes on visits to Siam, Egypt and America.

Papers of David Henry Monckton, 1850-1852, comprising a manuscript volume of notes, drawings and sketches titled Diary of Occupation, as Student in Human and Comparative Anatomy to Royal College of Surgeons of England, including topics such as the sorting and cleaning specimens, remounting preparations, writing descriptions of preparations, and carrying out and describing dissections. Monckton's work is countersigned by James Luke (Member of the Court of Examiners 1851-1868) and Frederick Carpenter Skey (Member of Council 1848-1867, and Professor of Anatomy and Surgery from 1852).

Papers of Sir Richard Owen, [1831-1873], comprising papers relating to his scientific research and as Curator of the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Papers largely relating to Owens' research and publications, including work on specimens of the Hunterian Museum and other institutions, namely original illustrations for plates published in his works and proof sheets; notes of dissections performed at the Zoological Society; report of preparations in comparative anatomy from animals which have died at the Zoological Gardens, 1831; report on the dugong received by the Zoological Society, 1831; paper on metamorphosis of insects; notes and sketch on python and boa; papers relating to a variety of subjects, including temporal mastoid-mammals; viscera and muscles of the myrmecophaga jubata (anteater); distinction of an animal from a vegetable; animal kingdom; order ophidia; serpents from British Fossil Reptiles, [c1850s]; list of 'Mr Cumming's Mollusca'; notes on birds closest in structure to mammalia; classified list of D Bennet esq's specimens of natural history, [1836]; notes on the hyoid, with sketches on the salamander; illustrations of cetacea; notes on the fore-foot, megatherium (giant sloth); loose notes on generation; notes on homologies; plates and notes on histology of animals; description of a malformed foetal heart; notes on composition of vertebral segments; notes on the dermo-skeleton, operculum and of a lecture on digestion; notes on belemites; memoranda on various subjects, including harpa ventricosa and Ehrenberg's classification with letters from naturalists; description of the skeleton of an extinct gigantic sloth, [c1842], and megatherium; report of preparations in comparative anatomy from animals which have died at the Zoological Gardens; report on the dugong received by the Zoological Society, 1831; notes on the giraffe, 1837; notes and sketches on a dugong, 1838; notes on the incubation and development of the chick; notes and plates on odontography, 1844; printed papers on Dinornis maximus (moa), with annotations by Owen, 1848-1851; memoir of William Clift, [c1850]; report on the dissection of the chimpanzee, 1844; notes taken at the Garden of Plants, Paris, 1847;

papers largely relating to the administration of the museum collection, namely lists of specimens, additions to the collection from other collections and reports to the Board of Curators of the Museum, including list of Hunterian documents handed by Owen to the Museum Committee; list of duplicate specimens in the College; selection from the collection of M Verraux; report to the Board of Curators, 1833; report on the present state of the museum, 1833; list of second selection of specimens from Mr Langstaff's collection, 1835; list of preparations in spirit presented by F D Bennett, 1836; donations from the Army Medical Departments; donations since July [1843]; report on duties of officers and servants of the Museum, 1852; plans for additional museum space, 1831; report to the Board of Curators on the Museum of Comparative Anatomy in the Garden of Plants, Paris, 1831; observations on the state of the College Museum, 1833; general account of specimens of comparative anatomy and natural history presented to the Museum by George Bennett, 1834; list of specimens proposed to be transferred to the British Museum and specimens of osteology proposed in place of the transfers, 1833-1834; report to the Committee on the chimpanzee, and copies of related correspondence, 1840; report on the physiological catalogue, 1840; list of duplicate preparations from the museum of Sir Astley Cooper not desirable for the College Museum, 1843; list of specimens selected for the College from Dr Buckland's series of bones of dinornis, 1844; report on additional space required for the collection, 1845; list of osteological specimens purchased at Steven's Auction Room, 1847; list of donations from Sir Thomas W Wilson, 1852;

papers relating to catalogues of the Hunterian Museum, including sketches and notes for an osteological catalogue, [?1840s]; notes and classifications referring to specimens in the Museum, [1827-1856]; Catalogue of Hunterian Osteological specimens, [?1853]; notes made whilst producing the catalogue of comparative anatomy, ?1831; printed histological catalogue of the Museum, with annotations, 1850; papers prepared for publication of descriptive catalogue of the fossil organic remains of invertebrata in the museum, 1856;

papers relating to the Hunterian lectures delivered by Owen at the College, including museum lectures on the animal kingdom, (Owen's first course of Museum lectures) c1837; notes for lectures delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons, 1830s-1850s; memorandum concerning Museum lectures, 1823-1833; lecture on the comparative anatomy and physiology of the vertebrate animals, 1844; notes, plates and drawings relating to mammalia and Owen's lecture, 1844;

notes taken by William W Cooper on lectures on comparative anatomy delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1838-1839, revised and corrected by Owen; notes on lectures on comparative anatomy delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1837, in Clift's hand; notes taken by T E Bryant on Owen's lectures on comparative anatomy, 1839; notes taken by Frederick Hoare Colt on lectures on physiology and morbid anatomy by Owen, 1845; Lady Owen's common-place book, [c1835-1873].

Papers of John Thomas Quekett, [1840-1854], relating to his work as Conservator of the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, comprising diaries, 1840-1848, which include references to prominent microscopists of the time, such as Carpenter, West, Ross, Sowerby, and Smith of Smith and Beck; notebook, containing some sketches and including notes on experiments on frogs, 1841; ?draft catalogues of the Histological Series in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and catalogue of Pathology, [c1840-1860]; catalogue of Hewson's Preparations, [c1840-1860]; unpublished part of Quekett's catalogue of histological series; Lectures on Histology delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons 1852-1854 with annotations by Quekett; notes for lectures on histology delivered in the session 1853-1853, on the structure on the skeleton of vertebrate animals, with original drawings.

Papers of John Henry Sylvester, 1852-1853, comprising a manuscript volume of notes titled Occupation during Studentship at the Royal College of Surgeons, 1852, describing the actitivies of Sylvester whilst he was a Student of Anatomy, including dissections, remounting specimens, listing and cataloguing specimens, reading in the Library, and hospital visits. Sylvester's work is countersigned by Frederic Carpenter Skey, Professor of Anatomy and Surgery from 1852.

Papers and correspondence, 1846-1974, of David Meredith Seares Watson and his family, largely comprising biographical material and family papers, scientific correspondence, and photographs, also including a few Exchequer receipts, 1568-1622.

Biographical material, 1886-1974, includes Watson's birth certificate, 1886; documentation, including certificates and correspondence, of Watson's career, honours and awards over a period of forty years, including election to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, 1922, the award of its Darwin medal, 1942, and the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society, 1965; correspondence about the Directorship of the British Museum (Natural History), 1937; correspondence about the presentation album on his retirement from the Jodrell Chair, 1951; correspondence and papers relating to his final retirement from research, 1965; obituaries, 1973; F R Parrington and T S Westoll's memoir of Watson from Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 1974; an account of Watson's early days and family background by his daughter Janet Vida; recollections by his research assistant Joyce Townsend; Watson's curriculum vita and bibliography.

Family papers include the birth certificate of Watson's father, David, 1846, correspondence with his wife Mary, 1888, and a letter of condolence to Mrs Watson on her husband's death, 1899; diaries of Mary Watson, 1881, 1885; birth certificate of their daughter Constance, 1888, letters from Constance to her brother David Meredith Seares Watson, 1905-1909 and undated; papers relating to Katharine Margarite Watson (née Parker), Watson's wife, including her birth certificate, 1891, marriage certificate, 1917, death certificate, 1969, and various correspondence; papers relating to Watson's daughter Katharine Mary, including letters of congratulation on her birth, 1918, and letters to her parents, 1950, 1955; material relating to Watson's mother's family, including letters of her father Samuel M Seares, 1871, 1879-1882; papers of Charles J B Hutchinson, 1879-1880, who emigrated to Australia after his engagement to Watson's mother was broken off but who remained in correspondence with her aunt, Fanny Rossiter; other Parker family papers, 1929-1972; miscellaneous other personal correspondence, 1896-1965.

Four Exchequer receipts dated 1568, 1580, 1616 and 1622 were found enclosed with a letter to Watson's wife.

Scientific correspondence of Watson, sometimes including photographs of fossil specimens, with leading palaeontologists in Africa, 1947-1953, America, 1915-1964, Australia, 1931-1962, China, 1926-1927, 1935-1964, England, 1913-1914, 1920, 1926-1960, France, 1930-1936, 1945-1956, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, 1920-1962, Russia, 1920-1962, and Scandinavia, 1922-1964, and with the palaeontologist Robert Broom, 1911-1950, and Watson's research assistant Joyce Townshend, 1929-1973, also including a few letters from Watson's wife and scientific colleagues, and an obituary of Watson, 1974; correspondence and papers on bones found at Qau, Egypt, 1930-1957, 1972; miscellaneous other palaeontological correspondence, 1912-1967. There are few copies of Watson's outgoing letters before the end of the Second World War.

Photographic material comprises photographs documenting Watson's career, [1912]-1965 and undated, some including colleagues; photographs of scientific colleagues, 1911-1951 and undated, including Watson's predecessor as Professor at University College London, J P Hill, and Robert Broom; album of photographs and signatures presented to Watson, 1951; undated family photographs, including a photograph of Watson as a boy, photographs of members of the Seares and Parker families, and photographs of Watson's wife, Katharine Margarite, and daughter, Katharine Mary; photographs of unidentified fossil specimens.

Royal Society Darwin Medal Award given to Watson, 1942.