Records of Spalding and Hodge, stationers, 1781-1911; and subsidiary or merged companies including Busbridge and Hodge, papermakers and Suttaby and Company, booksellers. Also records of the Stationers' Book Society. The records include business agreements, legal documents relating to properties, wages books, cash books, stock books, bills, rules and regulations for staff, letters patent, brochures about Spalding and Hodge and their history, inventories, correspondence and price lists. Stationers' Book Society records comprise minutes, accounts, and an address by Thomas Spalding.

Records of G Street and Company Limited, bookseller, newsagent and stationer. The earliest records of the firm date from 1865. There are some earlier share certificates, 1825-54, but these appear to have belonged to John Leathwait, presumably a predecessor of Leathwait and Simmons, an advertising agency and newspaper supply firm, which Streets took over in 1918.

There are also a few records of subsidiary companies : EC Advertising Company Limited/G. Street and Co. (Provinces) Limited (Ms 33953); Streets Public Relations Limited (Ms 33954); Lionel Jackson and Partners (Ms 33955) and W Hopwood and Company (Ms 33956).

Records of Bloomsbury Book Auctions, 1951-2002. There are three series in the collection, the first (LMA/4449/01) covering the administration of the business, and the latter two (LMA/4449/02 and LMA/4449/03) dealing with the auctions and sales, including a series of catalogues.

Records relating to the International Bookfair of Radical Black and Third World Books, including original programmes, stationery, correspondence and notes from members of The Alliance and from artists and those who attended the conferences. Also listings of families and individuals who provided accommodation for artists and rotas for the staffing of the Fairs.

The programmes are an excellent resource for information about the social and political issues that were of concern to Black people living in London in the 1980s and 1990s. They show the international links and connections between individuals of different artistic disciplines.

The development of the organisation and it's influence on diverse groups in the community are well documented in the correspondence and minutes; LMA/4462/M/01 and 02.

The photographs are both formal and informal. They show the Fair in action and special guests and artists performing or speaking at the different events. One album was put together by a participant as a gift to the Huntleys.

The press cuttings give valuable information on how the Fairs were being received by the Black community and others in London and internationally. There is an exclusive interview with Sonia Sanchez and an article by Margaret Busby which gives an historical overview of the Fair.

The copyright to these records rests with the depositors, Race Today Publications and New Beacon Books. Permission for the use of images for publication must be sought from all three organisations.

Records of Hansib Publications Limited, including issues of the African Times, Asian Times and Caribbean Times; and publications on a variety of topics relating to Asia, Africa, South America and the Caribbean including poetry, literary studies, history, politics, diaspora, music, sport, law, society, colonialism, racism, slavery and travel. Also some promotional and publicity material.

Items relating to Iris Murdoch from 1939 to 1995. Includes:

1) Uncorrected Proof Copy of Iris Murdoch's 'The Book and the Brotherhood'

2) Booklet: Theology in Scotland Occasional Paper No 1 Apr 1995- 'Iris Murdoch's Giffords' A Study of the 1982 Gifford Lectures Edited by RA Gillies

3) Original copy of 'The Cherwell' magazine Vol LVI No 6 dated Week Ending 03 Jun 1939, including Iris Murdoch's piece 'The Irish- Are they Human?'

4) 6 original letters from Iris Murdoch to a bookseller regarding seeing first editions from the 1980s, with a letter from The Paris Review to Iris Murdoch regarding an interview dated 14 Mar 1977 and a photograph of a book shop.

Documents created during the publication of Publishing News magazine. This includes a complete run of the magazine, copies of other publications by Publishing News, research files on companies and individuals associated with the book trade pulled together by the editors of the magazine, photographs used in the magazine, documents relating to the British Book Awards, reference books on the book trade, and some digital records. Publishing New's website has also been archived and can be searched at http://www.ehaus2.co.uk/pnarchive/ .

Letter from James Hanley to Frank Hollings, bookseller, offering to sell manuscript of his first novel Drift and also the manuscript of Captain Bottele, 6 Nov 1933.

The collection consists mainly of minutes, financial records, manuscripts of unpublished texts and correspondence. It provides interesting detail on what one section of society thought would provide education for another. There is much useful information on the reading preferences of the public, and on the growth and development of Mechanics' Institutes. Most of those concerned with the founding of the Society as a project in self-education were also involved in the founding of the new University of London (now University College London) and some, like Augustus De Morgan and George Long, actually taught there. There is also considerable information on the work of publishers, illustrators, engravers and booksellers and on writers, whether already established authorities in their field or young hopefuls, like G H Lewes, who sought to establish themselves through the Society's patronage.