Papers of the Artists' Suffrage League, 1905-1912, including correspondence, drawings, cartoons, prints, poster, postcard, programmes and their covers, notices press clippings, album of designs by Mary Lowndes.

The archive consists of correspondence (1903-1949); printed and typescript copies (including corrections) of plays (1913-1938); diaries including one written by her companion Fanny Laming (1922-1952), drawings, leaflets, albums containing sketches, verse, programmes of entertainment, photographs, receipts, press cuttings, etc (1893-1952); biographical notes (1930s); verse (1915-1953); drawings; papers related to the National Federation of Women's Institutes (1917-54); papers related to her activities in the First World War; materials concerning the death of Williams (1957-9).

The archive consists of 77 letters to Bodichon mainly from Helen Taylor, James Joseph Sylvester, Marianne North, the Hill Family and various other correspondents (1827-c 1891); offprints of papers written by the donor related to Helen Taylor (1978), James Joseph Sylvester (1981) and Marianne North (1989).

The archive consists of photocopies of letters sent to Fraenkel by Pankhurst mainly concerned with an exhibition of the latter's paintings which Elsa organised and which was held in London in 1959. Includes a pastel drawing of Pankhurst by Fraenkel (c.1957).

The archive consists of printed flyers and a pamphlet, an interview transcript, press cuttings and other papers relating to the photographer Melanie Manchot and exhibitions of her work.

The file comprises:

• Curriculum Vitae of Melanie Manchot, c 1998

• Essay by the exhibition curator Maeve O'Brien, of Nottingham Trent University Bonnington Gallery, on the exhibition 'Lifelines' that featured silver gelatin print photographs of Manchot's naked mother, Jun 1998

• Transcript of interview between Manchot and Penny Martin [then archivist at The Women's Library], c 2000

• Four press cuttings relating to the exhibition 'Lifelines', from 'Time Out', 'Scene' and the 'Independent on Sunday', 1996-1998.

• Publicity flyers for exhibitions featuring Manchot's work: 'Behind the Screen', 'The Ugly Show', 'Light Sensitive', 'Lifelines', 1998.

• Catalogue for 'Lifelines' with reproductions of Manchot's photographs and an essay on her work by Sue Hubbard.

Letters (10) and papers of or relating to Giacomo Meyerbeer, including to Giovanni Ricordi, 29 Jun 1824; to Leopold Ganz, 17 May 1847; to Jean-Antoine-Just Géraldy, c1850; to Annette Le Brun, ?before 1854; to James Steuart Bowes, ?1854; to C L Gruneisen, [14 Apr 1860]. With two testimonials for Leopold Ganz, 1845.

Papers of Herbert Howells, 1899-1978, including notes, manuscript drafts and typescripts of BBC talks and broadcasts (box B), including 'Music and the ordinary listener' (1937), 'Music and everyday life' (1938), 'The Three Choirs Festival in Elgar's time' (1960), tributes to Malcom Sargent (1965) and Sir William Harris (1973); manuscript notes for Royal College of Music (RCM) and University of London lectures (boxes C and D), 1940s-1950s, including talks on his work Sine Nomine (1922), Ivor Gurney (c1939), Hubert Parry (1968), Ralph Vaughan Williams (1972); notes and transcripts for his speeches to various organisations including the Incorporated Society of Musicians (1953), Worshipful Company of Musicians (1957), Royal College of Organists (1959); book of poetry copied on first anniversary of the death of his son Michael Howells, 1936; cuttings of articles by Howells in newspapers and journals, and by others on Howells' music and performances (boxes E and H); papers relating to the Sir James Caird Travelling Scholarships, and notebooks containing Howell's adjudications with draft reports (box F); appointment diaries, 1955,1956 and 1973, address books of Herbert and Dorothy Howells, and printed concert programmes with notes written by Howells (box G), RCM student essays on Howells' music; letters received by Howells from over 260 correspondents, 1915-1978, with particular accumulations from Charles Bathurst Viscount Bledisloe, Sir Arthur and Trudy Bliss, Sir Adrian Boult, Robert Thurston Dart, Sybil Eaton, Gerald and Joy Finzi, Harry Plunket Greene, Walter de la Mare, Sir Hubert Parry, William Rothenstein, Marion Scott, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and others including Sir John Barbirolli, Arnold Bax, Nadia Boulanger, Benjamin Britten, Neville Cardus, Aaron Copland, Sir Henry Walford Davies, Thomas Frederick Dunhill, Keith Falkner, Guido Gatti, Edward Health, Gustav Holst, Joseph Horovitz, Zoltán Kodály, Cecil Day-Lewis, Yehudi Menuhin, Peter Pears, Edmund Rubbra, Harold Watkins Shaw, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, Sybil Thorndike and Michael Tippett; correspondence relating to his medical condition (1917), with Oxford colleges, with publishers and commissioning bodies, on his Cambridge Doctorate; photocopies of letters from Howells to 30 correspondents, including those already mentioned and to the Carnegie UK Trust; family correspondence (box A).

Papers of or relating to Giovanni Battista Viotti, 1798-1905, comprising a manuscript autobiography 'since his entry into the world until 6 Mar 1798'; manuscript by Viotti on the origin of the 'Rans des vaches', the Swiss mountain melody sung or played to summon cows, recording his own experience of hearing it in Switzerland, undated; holograph will of Viotti, 13 Dec 1822; 5 manuscript letters from Viotti to Caroline Chinnery, Baron de la Ferté, Monsieur Cailheux, Madame Simon, and Monsieur Choron, 1798-1822; 9 letters from Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850), on musical matters, c1813-1817; letter from George Canning to Mrs Chinnery, on the death of George Chinnery, 31 Oct 1825; letter from Samuel Rogers, poet, [to the Chinnery family], undated; portraits, sketches and prints of Viotti and the Chinnery family; article by E van der Straeten on Viotti, from the journal Die Music, 1902; various letters, 1885-1901 to Edward Heron-Allen on the provenance and content of his collection of Viotti material.

Papers of Frederic Cliffe, comprising cuttings and correspondence, Feb 1908, regarding Cliffe's letter to The Daily Telegraph, advocating the performance of opera in the English language, and the establishment of a national opera house, 11 Feb 1908; Cliffe's reports as examiner on compositions of students at the Royal College of Music, 1907-1908; agreement with Novello & Co for publication of his 'Ode to the North East Wind', 1905; marriage certificate, 1897; Freemason's certificates, 1895 (MS 6870). Letters (c25) to Cliffe, 1889-1929, including from Sir George Grove and August Manns on performance of Cliffe's symphony for Crystal Palace, 1889; from C V Stanford, regarding submission of Cliffe's work for the Leeds Festival, 1901; from Hubert H Parry recommending Cliffe for appointment as Principal of the Guildhall School of Music, 1910; from Sir Hugh Allen, on Cliffe's retirement from the RCM, 1929 (MS 6871).

Papers of Graham Carritt, comprising letters to Carritt, 1935-1962, mainly relating to his recitals, including letters from Gerald Finzi, Finn Hoffding, Yrjö Kilpinen, Jan Masaryk, Robin Milford, Edmund Rubbra; programmes and cuttings of Carritt's lecture-recitals, 1934-1937.

Papers of Sir Adrian Boult, comprising letters (9), 1920-1954, including from Sir Hugh Allen, thanking for Boult's conducting of rehearsals; from Sir Edward Elgar, in regard to his arrival at Boult's rehearsal; from Ethel Smyth on the possible performance of her works; from Adam Carse, sending score of his latest composition. Typescript programme and repertoire lists, mainly 1920s-1930s.

Papers of Katharine Goodson, including letters to Goodson, 1918-1929, mainly expressing thanks for her performances in aid of war charities; undated typed transcripts of letters from Goodson to friends and relatives [1890s]; ephemeral papers, including articles by Goodson, programme notes and biographical notes on Goodson, c1914-1947; editions of the The News Bulletin of the Leschetizky Association of America, 1952-1955. Ephemera of Arthur Hinton, including obituary [RAM magazine, 1941]; programmes and reviews of his compositions, 1911-1920; undated letter to Goodson signed by professors of the RAM, expressing thanks on the furnishing of a professors' room there.

Letters (16) from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor to Edith Carr, (one dated 1897, remainder undated) mainly relating to his musical activities, publication of his recent works, repertoire for violin and orchestral parts for Carr's performance, the Handel Society; photocopy of photograph of Coleridge-Taylor, with dedication to Carr, 1902; printed letter (signed by Coleridge-Taylor) to a Mrs Prince inviting subscriptions for the Coleridge-Taylor Orchestral Concerts, Croydon, 1903-1904, with receipt for same, and photocopy of handbill for Central Croydon Choral Society concert featuring Coleridge-Taylor's cantata Meg Blane, 28 Mar 1903.

Collection of letters of Sir George Grove, comprising two letters from Gaspare Spontini, relating to his possible coming to London to produce Alcidor and Nurmahal, 1826; five letters from Felix Mendelssohn, 1834-1847, including a testimonial for Edmund Chipp, organist, and a letter to John Hullah in regard to an English text of Mendelssohn's Lauda Sion; letter from Gilbert Duprez with thanks for music parts, 1842; two letters to John Hullah from William Ball and Karl Klingemann in regard to works by Beethoven and Mendelssohn, 1858-1859; letter to Grove from George Eliot with thanks for his appreciative letter about her book Daniel Deronda, 1876; letter to Grove from William Gladstone in regard to Homeric studies, 1878; letter [to Grove] from William Morris in regard to a tribute [to Dante Gabriel Rossetti], 1882.

Papers of Harold Watkins Shaw, 1950s-1991, including manuscript notes, notebooks, typescripts and associated research material relating to Shaw's articles, particularly in regard to the music and life of George Frideric Handel and Handel's Messiah; offprints of Shaw's articles from various journals; printed orchestral parts of Shaw's edition of Handel's Messiah (1965) with minor manuscript corrections; Shaw's manuscript edition of Handel's Theodora (1984); research papers for a series of articles by Shaw on John Blow, with offprints; manuscript editions by Shaw of works by John Blow, including Awake, awake my lyre!, the orchestral Te Deum and Jubilate in D, Ode on St Cecilia's Day 1691, Evening service, other odes and Latin pieces; research papers for his The Succession of Organists of the Chapel Royal and the Cathedrals of England and Wales from c.1538 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1991), mostly comprising autobiographical details (name, birthdates and appointments as organist) of organists then living, together with a few biographical memoirs compiled by relatives of organists recently deceased; correspondence with the deans, provosts and chapter clerks of Anglican cathedrals of modern foundation (formerly parish churches) in connection with lists of their organists; files of correspondence and research papers on organists of ancient cathedrals, and related correspondence with Oxford University Press, librarians and cathedral and college authorities for permission to publish.

Papers of or relating to the Wessex Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor Reginald Goodall, mainly comprising correspondence with composers, singers, musicians, orchestral managers, agents and artists, relating to the foundation of the orchestra, performances of the orchestra during World War Two, the hiring and dismissal of musicians, the arranging of concerts, discussion of programmes (including music by Britten, Elgar, Poulenc, Rubbra, Sibelius, Vaughan Williams, Walton and many others), payments and disbursements made, arrangements for accommodating visiting soloists and conductors etc, mainly addressed to Maisie Aldrich, with a large number of letters from Goodall, and others including Adrian Boult, Harriet Cohen, H C Colles, George Dyson, Anatol Fistoulari (about Anna Mahler), Beatrice Harrison, Arnold Haskell, Julius Isserlis, Gordon Jacob, Eileen Joyce, Kathleen Long, Reginald Morley, Albert Sammons, Malcolm Sargent, Kendall Taylor, Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Archives of the Royal Opera House (ROH), comprising:
some business records of the ROH and associated companies including Board minutes and papers of various opera companies using the ROH, 1919-1939; box office returns and payment slips for artists and theatre staff, 1919-1939; individual artist files, containing biographical information, prints and photographs 18thc to present]; production files 1946-present; minutes of the Board of the Royal Opera House Ltd, sub-committees, and management groups, 1946-present; files of the General Administrator/Chief Executive Office, and Assistants to the General Administrator, 1946-present; files of the Chairman of the Board 1946-1997; files of the Company Secretary's office, 1948-1996; files of the Personnel Office -2002 (closed); Contract files 1946-1980s (closed);
Opera Company files 1970s - 1999; Ballet Company files 1947-1996; Birmingham Royal Ballet files 1970s-1991; some early performing company files are found with the General Administrator's files; Finance Department records, 1946-present;

19th century correspondence, including letters of Frederick Gye (1809-1878), opera manager; Giovanni Matteo Mario (1810-1883) Italian tenor; Giulia Grisi (1811-1869), and Michael Costa (1810-1884) conductor;

Press, Publication, Community Relations, Marketing and Box Office departmental files, 1980-2000; House Management files, 1948-1999; Orchestra Office files, 1948-present; Friends of Covent Garden files, 1964-1999;

Ballet for All - education initiative files, 1964-1970s; London Opera Centre records, 1963-1970s; Production Office files, 1946-1980; Fly Department files, 1947-1977; Technical Department files, 1952-present;

audiovisual collection comprising:
audio recordings of oral history interviews relating to the Royal Opera House Development Project, 1997-2000; Verdi Centenary, 2001-2002; recordings of interviews and events at the Royal Opera House, 1964-2003;

photographic collection comprising:
photographs by Donald Southern, including black and white negatives and colour transparencies of performances, events and personnel at the ROH, 1959-1991; photographs by John Graham, including negatives of ballet and opera performances at the ROH, 1940s-1950s; photographs by Felix Fonteyn, including negatives of ballet productions from 1950s; photographs by Richard Holttum, including black and white negatives and colour transparencies of the ROH interior and exterior prior to development 1988-1991; photographs by Rob Moore including contact prints and colour transparencies of the ROH development, 1997-2001; Schal time-lapse photography of the development of the ROH, 1996-1999; Historic Monuments Commission photographic survey of the ROH interior and exterior prior to site development 1990-1996; two albums of photographs compiled by Edwin Sachs of the redevelopment of the ROH stage, 1899-1900, and the workshops; glass plate negatives used to create ballet post cards, 1950s-1960s;

collection of music and choreographic scores comprising:
printed songs, 18th -early 19th century; operas scores (vocal and orchestral) and stage managers scores, 1840s-1939; annotated opera stage managers scores 1946- present; annotated ballet stage managers scores, 1946-present; Staff Director's annotated scores for opera productions, 1946-present; Ninette de Valois' printed and manuscript music for ballet, 1920s -1930s; printed and manuscript ballet music, 1840s-1950s;
choreographic scores for ballets performed by The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet;

design and costume and collections comprising:
Yolanda Sonnabend design collection including notebooks, reference files, and related material, 1973-1995;
Ian Spurling collection of designs, photographs and press cuttings, 1975-1994; Toby Ward collection of drawings of the ROH prior to and during development 1996-1999;
Glynne Boyd Hart collection of watercolours of the ROH development, 1998-1999;
Ruth Hurle collection of drawings of back state, craft workrooms, opera and ballet rehearsals, 1930s-1940s;

costumes and accessories, such as headdresses, jewellery, shoes and wigs, worn by artist appearing at he ROH, 1920s-2003;
Comelli costume design collection including artwork by Attilio Comelli and others for costumes of operas performed at the ROH 1880s-1920s;
Costume design artwork, 1946-present; design artwork for sets and props, 1946-present; models of sets for productions, 1946-present; Model Room files relating to ground plans, and technical drawing or set and prop construction 1946 to present; stage and ground plans, 1939; Production Wardrobe files relating to costume and accessories design 1946-present;

miscellaneous large prints and drawings of performers and performances 19th and 20th century;

collection of advertising posters, 19th century-present;

programme collection including programmes for Gala and Special performances, and decorative programmes 1750s-present;

press cuttings of announcements, reviews, interviews, 18th century, 1847-1939; Harold Rosenthal collection of press puttings, relating mainly to the ROH performances, 1847-1950s; press cuttings of reviews and articles about performers and performances, 1946-present;
miscellaneous albums and scrap books relating to Anna Pavlova, and Nellie Melba, amongst others 1920s;

library collection comprising books, periodicals and specialist publication relating to ballet, dance, opera, music and theatre; libretti, 1840-present; playtexts 1776-[1850]; reports commissioned by the ROH and general arts reports 1946-present; ROH publications and souvenir year books 1956-2002;

special collections comprising:
Royal Ballet Benevolent Fund collection of material relating to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Royal Ballet (RB), including papers, photographs, press cuttings, programmes concerning the RB and its predecessors - Vic Wells and Sadler's Wells Ballet companies 1931- 1950s;

Spellman Song Sheet Covers containing illustrations of operas, and ballets late 19th-early 20th century;

albums of Lady de Grey albums containing photographs of singers, composers, conductors, mostly autographed, dedicated to (Constance) Gladys De Grey, (1859-1917) Marchioness of Ripon, and opera patron, 1870-1920;

collection of Dame Margot Fonteyn De Arias (1918-1991) ballet dancer, including costumes, accessories, photographs, correspondence and books, 1920s-1980s;

collection of Dame Ninette de Valois (1898-2001) founder of The Royal Ballet, including awards, honours and correspondence, 1947-1993;

collection of Leslie Edwards (1916-2001), principal dancer The Royal Ballet, including photographs 1920s-1980s;

collection of Eva Turner (1892-1990) English soprano, relating to her singing career, including costumes, accessories, photographs, press cuttings, music and books 1920s-1940s;

diaries of Frederick Gye (1809-1878), Royal Italian Opera General manager, 1847-1878, his daughter Clara Gye, and son Ernest Gye, ROH Manager, 1847-1877;

collection of Olive Grime, dancer with the Beecham Opera Company, including press cuttings, contracts, correspondence, photographs, books and costumes, 1920s-1930s;

collection of Reginald Goodall (1901-1990) English conductor, including correspondence and personal papers, 1900-1958.

Collection of autograph letters, 1756-1849, brought together by Lord Odo Russell. The correspondents are mainly European scientists, including Nikolaus Joseph and his son Joseph Franz Freiherr von Jacquin, both Professor of Chemistry and Botany at Vienna University; the zoologist Leopold Joseph Franz Johann Fitzinger; and the botanist István Laszló Endlicher. The letters concern the natural sciences, the medical sciences, the physical sciences, the arts, theology, dealers, diplomats and statesmen, and others. There is also a note from Beethoven (post 1824) and a letter from Goethe (1807).

Manuscript items of John Flaxman, comprising his journal, kept by him in Naples in 1788, consisting of manuscript text and drawings; and a commonplace book containing manuscript notes on sculpture and art and some pencil and ink sketches.

Papers of Esmond Burton, c 1955, comprise seven plaster miniatures of working men and women prepared by sculptor Edmond Burton, relating to the bas-reliefs on the three frontages of Bentham House, residence of the Faculty of Laws at University College London. The buidling was originally the headquarters of the General and Municipal Workers' Union (now part of GMB), and was designed by Hubert Lidbetter. Fourteen black and white photographs of the bas-reliefs and construction of the building. Note that the right-hand figure in the 'group of five' photograph is Hubert Lidbetter.

Papers of the Incorporated Society of Authors, Playwrights and Composers comprising an annual report for 1945.

Original correspondence between the Polizeipräsident of Berlin and the KBDJ concerning all the activities of the organisation, eg. theatrical performances, engagement of the actors, venues etc, 1933-1935; forbidden Jewish texts including essays, lectures, poems, play scripts, short stories, anecdotes etc; general file containing programs pamphlets, correspondence between KBDJ and Staatskommisar, also Jüdischer Kulturbund, Berlin, 1938-1939; Kulturbund correspondence with groups, members, lawyers, Nazi authorities (Blank and Hinkel), reports and 3 copies of the Monatsblätter, 1933-1935; JKB Orts and Landesgruppe (except Berlin): mainly correspondence, pamphlets, programmes and other documents of the organisation in the different cities viz: Hamburg, Breslau, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Dresden, Hildesheim, Kassel, Bayern, Erfurt, Königsberg, Mecklenburg-Lübeck, Oberschlesien, Ost-Westfalen, Rhein-Ruhr, Schwarzwald, Stettin, Wien.

Responses to a questionnaire by Paul Plaut, designed as research for Die Psychologie der produktiven Persönlichkeit, from prominent scientists and artists in Germany and Austria on their views about science and creativity. There are some interesting responses from outside the German speaking countries (Miguel de Unamuno, John Galsworthy), but the bulk of the contributions represent the views of German-speaking academics and artists. Responses to the scientific questionnaire include Albert Einstein, Fritz Haber and Erwin Finlay Freundlich as well as lay figures such as Gustav Radbrüch and Wilhelm Hellpach. Communications from writers range from letters by Heinrich and Franziska Mann to a postcard from Elsa Laska-Schüler. Architects write about their work and new ideas (Erich Mendelsohn) and some of the painters give insights into their creative development, notably Wassily Kandinsky, Otto Dix and Max Pechstein.

The collection consists of minutes of management meetings, 1974 - 1994; membership lists; internal correspondence; external correspondence concerning the reactions of the public to the productions; correspondence regarding funding; copies of scripts written by members of the company and outside authors; audition notes and CVs; correspondence and accounts relating to tour arrangements; tour reports; posters and programmes for productions; photographs, video cassettes and loose film reel of productions; promotional material; newspaper cuttings relating to specific productions and Gay Sweatshop in general; theses based on Gay theatre.

String quartet manuscript 'Celebration for string quartet' commissioned and composed by Alun Hoddinott for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' Annual Dinner 2004.

The collection contains Lindsay Cooper’s personal papers, works and associated materials. This includes autobiographical writing, including diaries (1950s - 1994) which detail her daily life, living with multiple sclerosis and her relationships with women. Alongside this are material relating to her early life and family history. It also includes musical scores, notebooks, photographs, correspondence, ephemera directly and indirectly related to her music career and life within the jazz and progressive rock scene. The collection also contains a diverse variety of audio visual material, both commercial studio and live recordings, both written by Cooper or featuring her, which have been digitised.