Archive, 1754 to date, of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA; formerly the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, or Society of Arts), created by the Society in the course of its activities, and comprising records of its administration (Ref: AD), and records of its activities and events (Ref: PR), also including some printed material dating back to 1634.

Administrative records of the Society include:

Records of Miscellaneous Committees to discuss the programme and administration of the Society, including the Committee of Correspondence and Papers and the Committee of Miscellaneous Matters, 1754-1848 (Ref: AD.MA/104).
Records of the Society from 1754, later the Council (established 1845) (Ref: AD.MA/100).

Records concerning Chairmen of Council (from 1846) and Council membership (Ref: AD.MA/102).

Records of Secretaries (administrative head of the Society), after 1994 known as the Director (Ref: AD.MA/101).

Records of Presidents (Ref: AD.MA/103).

Records of Membership/Fellowship, relating to subscribers to the Society, originally termed 'members', referred to as 'Fellows' from 1908 (Ref: AD.MA/900). (The archive does not include extensive biographical information on RSA Fellows, although dates of membership of Fellows are usually recorded.)
Records concerning the Society's House in John Adam Street from its design and construction by the Adam Brothers, including correspondence, papers, notes, leases and other legal documents, relating to administration, management, alteration and repair of the building (Ref: AD.MA/300).

Records of various House Committees set up at different times to look at the building, its use, function, administration and management (Ref: AD.MA/305).

Accounting and financial records produced by various committees including the Accounts Committee and Finance and General Purposes Committee (Ref: AD.MA/400).

Annual Reports recording the Society's activities over the year, initially within the Journal (from 1852), but later as a separate publication (Ref: AD.MA/701).

Records relating to general lectures (developed from the 1850s when the Society ceased the award of premiums for inventions), with correspondence mainly concerning administrative arrangements for speakers and publication of their texts (in the RSA Journal) and suggestions for topics for discussion (Ref: AD.MA/800).

Records relating to the RSA Silver Medal awarded annually for the most interesting lecture over the preceding year (Ref: AD.MA/803).

Records relating to production of the Journal and other publicity, promotion and communication (Ref: AD.MA/203).

Donations and collections, comprising objects and artefacts donated to or bought by the Society (Ref: AD.MA/204).

Records of the Society's activities (such as award schemes, exhibitions, conferences, seminars and lectures), including joint initiatives with a range of other organisations, include:

Guard Books (30 volumes), 1754-1770, containing correspondence and papers about all Society activities and committees, on a range of subjects (Ref: PR.GE/110).

Manuscript versions of the Society's Transactions, comprising draft versions of the printed Transactions, including drawings, plans and diagrams in support of claims for premiums and awards. Also general correspondence to the Society on various 19th century campaigns, conferences and committees, covering subjects including lectures (arrangements for dates, speakers, chairmen, participants; suggestions for subjects, submission of lecture texts, corrections to texts, requests for tickets/programmes, acceptances, apologies for non-attendance etc), examinations (requests for syllabus, copies of certificates, programmes, rules; complaints, arrangements, agreements with colleges, details of examiners etc), membership (requests for information, applications, replies to circulars, notes accompanying subscriptions, resignations, complaints), Council/committee chairmen (intention to attend meetings, acceptances, general arrangements for meetings, requests for information, dates, times etc), Journal (receipt/non-receipt of copies, reciprocal arrangements with other libraries, requests for extra copies, corrections to proofs, advertising, arrangements for making blocks, photogravures etc), House (letters from freeholders, solicitors, contractors; booking of rooms), staff (applications for employment, testimonials, sick notes etc - a very small number of items), general (invitations, letters from bankers, auditors, business circulars, requests for funding, suggestions for campaigns, policies, events etc), and including artistic copyright, uniform musical pitch, domestic economy, art workmanship, musical training, food committees, patent law reform, prevention of fires in theatres and education exhibitions (Ref: PR.GE/118-19, 121).

Records relating to Premium and Programme committees (Ref: PR.GE/112); Albert Medal (founded 1863) (Ref: PR.GE/101); Memorial Tablet (blue plaque) scheme (founded 1866) (PR.GE/122); War Memorials Advisory Council (established 1944, disbanded 1948), concerning memorials of the Second World War (Ref: PR.GE/117); Exhibition of Exhibitions (1951), concurrent with the Festival of Britain, to commemorate earlier ground-breaking Society exhibitions on contemporary art (1760), industrial design (1847-1850), photography (1852), industry (1761), and the first international exhibition (1851) (Ref: PR.GE/102); R B Bennett Commonwealth Prize (endowed 1944) for outstanding contribution to the promotion of the arts, agriculture, industries and commerce of the Overseas Empire (Ref: PR.GE/116); Commonwealth Committee (Ref: PR.GE/113); proposals and planning for the Festival of Britain (1951) (Ref: PR.GE/103); events for the RSA Bicentenary (1954) (Ref: PR.GE/107); Benjamin Franklin Medal (instituted 1956) (Ref: PR.GE/100); Trusts, bequests, fundraising and development (Ref: PR.GE/111).

Records relating to manufacture and commerce, including the Paris Exhibitions (1844-1900) (Ref: PR.MC/109); Great Exhibition (1851) (Ref: PR.MC/107); International Exhibition (1862) (Ref: PR.MC/108); Chicago Exhibition (World's Columbian Exposition, 1893), British Section (Ref: PR.MC/112); Industry Year/Industry Matters (1986) (Ref: PR.MC/100); Tomorrow's Company (begun 1994), concerning the role of business in a changing world (Ref: PR.MC/115); Redefining Work (launched 1995) (Ref: PR.MC/116); Forum for Ethics in the Workplace (1997) (Ref: PR.MC/117); Manufacturing, Wealth Creation and the Economy (1998) (Ref: PR.MC/118).

Records of subject-based standing committees set up by the Society from 1754 to judge awards and premiums in particular areas, including minutes and correspondence about awards and attendance at and structure of committees: Agriculture (Ref: PR.MC/103), Chemistry (Ref: PR.MC/105), Colonies and Trade (Ref: PR.MC/104), Manufactures (Ref: PR.MC/102), Mechanics (Ref: PR.MC/101), and Polite Arts - including prints, drawings and other artwork submitted for award (Ref: PR.AR/103).

Records relating to fine and applied arts, including exhibition of works of Ancient and Medieval Art (1847-1850) (Ref: PR.AR/105); exhibition of the works of William Etty and William Mulready (1848-1849), including general correspondence, printed matter, catalogues, press cuttings, tickets and notices about mounting of exhibitions, and attendance (Ref: PR.AR/112); British Art in Industry Exhibition (1935) to publicise good design in articles of everyday use (Ref: PR.AR/101); Humorous Art Exhibition (1949-1950) (Ref: PR.AR/100); Art for Architecture scheme (from 1990), aiming to enhance the urban environment by encouraging cross disciplinary approaches to building and landscape projects, and associated with the Jerwood Art for Architecture Award (introduced 1994) (Ref: PR.AR/110); Shakespeare in Schools (begun 1992), a pilot project to introduce Shakespeare to children (Ref: PR.AR/108).

Records relating to promotion of design, including the Design Bursaries Board, Design Committee, the Design Board, Design Advisory Group and Design Section (Ref: PR.DE/106-7); Industrial Art Bursaries Competition (started 1924), succeeded by the Design Bursaries Competition, Competition of Industrial Designs and Student Design Awards (Ref: PR.DE/100); Royal Designers for Industry (RDI) scheme (created 1936) to encourage a high standard of industrial design (Ref: PR.DE/101); Bicentenary Medal (instituted 1954) for exceptional influence in promoting art and design in British industry (Ref: PR.DE/102); Presidential Awards for Design Management (instituted 1964) to recognise outstanding design policy (Ref: PR.DE/105).
Records relating to education, including the RSA Examinations Board (PR.ED/100); the Education for Capability programme (initiated 1979) to counteract academic bias in British education and promote practical, organising and co-operative skills (Ref: PR.ED/107); the future of Technological Higher Education in Britain (1982), a study group to consider the problems facing Britain in the development of technological higher education (Ref: PR.ED/118); Home-School links (from 1988) (Ref: PR.ED/108); Parents in a Learning Society, a development project to involve parents in education and assess home-school work (Ref: PR.ED/104); the National Advisory Council for Careers and Educational Guidance (established 1994), to promote and advise on provision of guidance for learning and work (Ref: PR.ED/103); Education Futures (2000) (Ref: PR.ED/116).

Records relating to the environment, including the Campaign for the Preservation of Ancient Cottages (begun 1926) to protect cottage architecture, establishing a fund which purchased or restored cottages near Worthing, at Bibury, Gloucestershire, West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Chiddingstone, Kent, and elsewhere (Ref: PR.EN/100); three 'Countryside in 1970' Conferences (1963-1970) (Ref: PR.EN/104); Environment Committee (formed 1971) to identify and anticipate major environmental problems and provide a forum for discussion (Ref: PR.EN/107), which began the Pollution Abatement Technology Award Scheme (PATAS) (1983-1986) (Ref: PR.EN/103), succeeded by the Better Environment for Industry/European Better Environment Awards for Industry (BEAFI/EBEAFI) (1987-1991) (Ref: PR.EN/101); the Environment Committee's sub-committee the RSA-Cubitt Trust Panel (to 1991), devoted to the built environment and working with the Cubitt Trust to convene conferences, seminars and an annual Cubitt Lecture (Ref: PR.EN/106); After the Earth Summit - What Next? (1992) (Ref: PR.EN/128); RSA Environmental Management Awards (begun 1993) (Ref: PR.EN/102).

The Early Library (Ref: SC/EL/1-5), comprising c500 printed works collected by the Society before 1830, including journals and periodicals, and c300 pamphlets and tracts covering broad-ranging topics relating to premiums and awards of the various sectional committees (Agriculture, Polite Arts, Chemistry, Manufactures, Mechanics, and Colonies and Trade), and including extracts from proceedings of other societies and learned institutions.

Papers collected by the solicitors in the course of their work, comprising deed to receive royalties on manufacture of bricks on land near Southall, Hayes, with plan, 1877.

Papers of Eleazer Gidney, 1824, comprising a manuscript of Treatise on the Structure, Diseases and Management of the Human Teeth; and a certificate of copyright dated 14 May 1824 for registration of Treatise on the Structure, Diseases and Management of the Teeth, awarded by the Clerk of the Northern District of New York.

Papers of William Cheselden, 1749-c 1990, comprising a deed of sale for the copyright of Anatomy of the Human Body by William Cheselden, to the publishers, Charles Hitch and Robert Dodsley for £200, dated 8 Apr 1749; two receipts for shares, dated 19 Oct 1771 by W Woodfall, for one 16th share in Cheselden's Anatomy to Mr Dodsley, and dated 22 Oct - 25 Nov 1778 by the trustees of Mr William Nicoll, also for one 16th share of Cheselden's Anatomy to James Dodsley; and photographs of the original drawings for Cheselden's Osteographia, 1733. The drawings for the vignettes in the Osteographia were by Jacobus Schijnvoet of Amsterdam, and the drawings for the plates were by Gerard van der Gucht. The photographs are mounted on card and numbered on the back.

Records, c1725, 1799-1986, of the United Society for Christian Literature (USCL) and its predecessors, including the Religious Tract Society, comprise:

Executive Committee minutes for the RTS, 1799-1935 (some gaps) (Ref: USCL 1-113), continued under the USCL, 1935-1953 (Ref: USCL 113-122), and other minutes, including copyright, finance, and local associations, for the RTS, 1806-1935, and USCL, 1935-1972 (Ref: USCL 123-149, USCL Add 6, 15, 19-22);

copies of outgoing RTS letters, 1824-1889 (Ref: USCL 150-195); miscellaneous correspondence of the RTS, 1824-1847 (Ref: USCL Add 23-26);

annual reports for the RTS, 1820-1935 (many gaps) (Ref: USCL 311-336, USCL Add 34), USCL, 1935-1962 (Ref: USCL 337-357, USCL/S 69-72, 99-103, USCL Add 38), and RTS (China), continued under the USCL, 1884-1947 (Ref: USCL 366-376);

ledgers and accounts, 1836-1952 (Ref: USCL 196-231);

papers of the RTS, succeeded by the USCL, relating to copyright, 1825-1835 (Ref: USCL Add 1-2); reports of sub-committees on anti-popery, 1839, and new warehouses, 1844 (Ref: USCL Add 3-4); salaries books, 1851-1938 (Ref: USCL Add 5); letters, report and pamphlet relating to the Assam mission, India, 1857-1859 (Ref: USCL Add 7); legacies book, 1911-1986 (Ref: USCL Add 11); USCL register of members, 1946-1963, also including declarations of employee names, 1948-1972 (Ref: USCL Add 16); USCL papers concerning premises in Lusaka, Rhodesia, 1949-1955 (Ref: USCL Add 17); reports on USCL officials' visits to India and Ceylon, Northern Rhodesia, and Zambia, 1950-1969 (Ref: USCL Add 18); papers documenting USCL history, 1927-1976 and undated, including notes, chronology, printed material, and photographs, including the fire damage of 1941 (Ref: USCL Add 64-71);

RTS and USCL printed tracts, c1920-c1950 (Ref: USCL 400-401); annotated listings of RTS publications, 1842-1859 (Ref: USCL Add 39); RTS publications, 1822-1934 and undated (Ref: USCL Add 41-57); USCL publications, 1935-1962 and undated (Ref: USCL Add 57-62); miscellaneous publications, c1725, 1816-1960, including some on the work of the RTS but also including other publications, some by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (Ref: USCL 377-399, USCL Add 40, 63).

There are also records, 1858-1950, of the Christian Literature Society (CLS) for India (and Africa) and its predecessor; and records, 1885-1977, of the UCSL (Scotland) and its predecessors.

Papers and correspondence of Ernest Hubert Francis Baldwin, 1930-1970.

The main deposit includes biographical papers, largely documenting Baldwin's academic career from 1934 onwards, including his appointment to the Chair of Biochemistry at University College London, 1950; correspondence, 1951-1968, including personal correspondence and exchanges with scientific colleagues; documentation on Baldwin's research, especially in notebook form, comprising notebooks, 1930-1933, including material documenting Baldwin's work at Cambridge with Dorothy Mary Moyle Needham, Joseph Needham and John Yudkin, a continuous sequence of ten notebooks documenting his research, 1934-1948, and notebooks kept at Woods Hole, 1948, and at Scripps, 1956-1957; extensive material relating to publications, lectures and broadcasts, illustrating Baldwin's role as writer and lecturer on biochemical matters; drafts and correspondence relating to his principal biochemical texts such as Dynamic Aspects of Biochemistry and The Nature of Biochemistry; documentation relating to public and invitation lectures and extensive teaching material prepared for his biochemistry courses at Cambridge and University College London, showing signs of revision and rearrangement, and evidence that they were used in the preparation of some of Baldwin's books; material on visits and conferences, 1948-1965, much of it documenting Baldwin's visits to the USA to attend conferences, give lectures at academic institutions, undertake research and take up visiting professorships; a little printed material on the First International Congress of Biochemistry at Cambridge in 1949.A supplementary deposit comprises biographical material, including documentation on the award of the 1952 Cortina Ulisse Prize by Edizioni Scientifiche Einaudi for the Italian edition of Baldwin's Dynamic Aspects of Biochemistry; photographic materials, including two photograph albums recording the visit to Italy during which he received the Cortina Ulisse award and a group photograph of the participants at the Third International Congress for Experimental Cytology, held at Cambridge in 1933; a small amount of material relating to Baldwin's classic biochemical texts, especially royalty statements; material on visits and conferences, including Baldwin's notes of his visit to the USSR for the All-Union Congress of Physiologists and Biochemists held in Kiev, 1955; additional material relating to Baldwin's visiting professorships in the USA for 1956-1957 (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) and 1965 (University of Kansas).

Letter from John Chapman of 1 Albion Street, Hyde Park, [London] to George Grote, 17 Nov 1858. Regarding the copyright of the Westminster Review.

Autograph, with signature.

Papers of and relating to Evelyn Underhill, 1874-1997 and undated, comprising personal correspondence of and concerning Underhill, 1888-1969 and undated, the correspondents including Baron Friedrich von Hugel (three letters, 1911-1916), Underhill's husband Hubert Stuart Moore (117 letters from Underhill to Moore, 1890-1912 and undated, and 30 letters from Moore to Underhill, 1898-1906 and undated), Rabindranath Tagore (typed transcripts of 10 letters from Underhill to Tagore, 1913-1914), and members of the Underhill family, the subjects ranging from Catholicism, travels in Italy, Switzerland and France, publications and lectures, spiritual matters and advice, mysticism, health, and World War Two; correspondence, 1907-[1954], with various publishers concerning Underhill's publications (some posthumous) and broadcasts, including copyright, costs, sales and royalties; manuscripts and typescripts containing proposed holiday itineraries and recording Underhill's impressions while travelling in Italy, Switzerland and France, 1898-1899, 1901-1907; poetry, 1917-1923 and undated, including some work which was published; a speech at King's College London on being elected a Fellow, 1927; an article on 'The Fountain of Life: an iconographical study', published in 1910; material relating to spiritual development, 1921-1939, mainly under the guidance of Baron Friedrich Von Hugel and including transcripts of his letters, 1921-1924, and other items on spiritual advice, confessions, goals and progress; papers relating to retreats and religious writings, 1924-1932 and undated, including notebooks and texts of addresses; printed material by and concerning Underhill, 1926-1941, 1990, including some of her publications; press cuttings, 1891-1949, mainly reviews of Underhill's work but also including early published pieces; sketchbooks and drawings, 1892-1911 and undated, including sketches and watercolours of marine scenes in Britain, ecclesiastical subjects, and Italian and French architecture; photographs, c1925-c1930s and undated, including a photograph and negatives of Underhill (one at Pleshey), a portrait of Baron Von Hugel, marine views, and views of French and Italian castles and towns; material relating to the Underhill family, 1874-1940, including the marriage certificate of Evelyn Underhill's parents, 1874, a family tree, c1891, a copy of Evelyn Underhill's will, 1940, and details of books in Dr Williams's Library, London, which originated from Underhill's library; obituaries of and articles about Underhill, 1941-1997, including theses, bibliographies, memoirs, biographical material and reflections on her work; newsletters of the Evelyn Underhill Association, 1992-1997.

Constitutional and legal records of Great Ormond Street Hospital, 1703-1991, comprising 'Memoranda and Articles of Association', 1914; annotated 1936; 1939; Constitution and Rules of the Hospital, 1908 and 1924 editions; register of seals, 1952-1960; Miscellaneous legal correspondence, 1930-1932; copy letters to the Hospital’s and other lawyers regarding the revision of Articles of Association; Peter Pan copyright agreements with the Daniel Mayer Co., and George Bell Ltd.; administration of legacies to the Hospital; administration of Hospital property and tenancies, Guilford Street, London. Deeds of Hospital properties in and around Great Ormond Street,1703-1991

Business papers of George Bernard Shaw, 1872-1950, mainly comprising correspondence, royalty details, contracts, copyright notices and other financial material, including papers relating to the performance of Shaw's plays in the UK and abroad by professional and amateur companies, 1896-1950; material concerning Shaw's dealings with literary agents, publishers, translators and various regulatory bodies, 1899-1950; printed blank contracts regulating the production and performance of Shaw's work in the UK and abroad, 1900-[1950]; correspondence, contracts, statements of royalties and other papers relating to the translation, publication and performance of Shaw's plays in countries other than the UK, 1907-1950; correspondence and bills of Messrs Leighton-Straker, bookbinders, 1911-1949, and Messrs R & R Clarke, printers, 1908-1949, including details of texts, numbers ordered and cost per unit; papers relating to dealings with Constable and Company Ltd, publishers, [1919]-1950; material relating to dealings with Messrs Brentano, US publishers, 1889-1946, notably royalty statements, accounts of sales, copyright agreements, and other material related to the publication of Shaw's plays and literary works in the USA; correspondence between Shaw and Paul Reynolds, his literary agent in the USA, 1907-1922, including details of payments made to Shaw for various articles, the serialisation of his plays in magazines, and copyright details; correspondence and papers concerning Shaw's dealings with literary agents in other European countries, [1903-1949], notably relating to the translation, publication and performance of his works; papers relating to litigation about copyright in the USA, 1927-1950; material relating to legal actions brought by Shaw against various unauthorised central European productions and publications, 1906-1910; correspondence relating to the adaptation and filming of Shaw's plays, 1913-[1950], including material concerning the development of the British and Irish film industries and the funding, marketing and distribution of films; correspondence concerning broadcasting rights, 1949-1950, mainly of Shaw's talks and adaptations of his plays; papers relating to the translation of Shaw's works, 1904-1949, into Russian, Czech, French, German and Polish; correspondence, receipts and contracts relating to Shaw's personal finances, 1872-1950, including details of his insurance policies and investments, property, income tax in the UK and USA, bank statements, royalty payments, and the disposal of the estate of Charlotte Shaw; papers relating to property owned by Shaw in Ireland and at Shaw's Corner, 1920-1949; material concerning dealings with J N Mason and Co, solicitors, 1891-1948, including the post-nuptial agreement made between Shaw and his wife; bills and letters relating to the purchase and hire of motor cars, 1900-1950; engagement diaries, 1877-1950; personal and domestic bills and receipts, 1872-1950, including hotel bills collected by Shaw during tours of the UK and Europe; notebooks and ledgers containing records of royalty payments, 1898-1950; copies of letters from Charlotte Shaw, 1899-1936, including letters to Alys Russell and Blanche Patch, with photographs of Charlotte's family and friends; material given to the Library by users of the Shaw papers, 1961-1970, notably copies of The California Shavian, 1961-1962.