Papers of Sir Alan Sterling Parkes, 1926-1988, with a particular bias to the diverse bodies (official, voluntary, and international) which which Parkes was involved through his interests in reproductive biology, endocrinology, scientific publishing, low-temperature biology, and global population issues (among others). There is a large selection of mostly identified photographs.

Papers of Carlos Paton Blacker, 1920-1974, reflecting his long and active career in psychiatry (including as including as psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital and as an Adviser to the Ministry of Health), and his activities as Secretary to the Eugenics Society and with a number of organisations interested in population and birth control, including the Birth Control Investigation Committee, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and the Simon Population Trust. There is also some material relating to his return to military duty in the Second World War as a Regimental Medical Officer. The collection also includes correspondence (both personal and professional), which sheds light on his interests in ornithology and nature conservation, and other writings both published and unpublished.

The papers of Frederick Parkes Weber, 1886-1962, consist of case notes from his Harley Street and German Hospital practices, some very fine annotated clinical photographs, and (the bulk of the collection) a large number of volumes and bundles dealing with a vast array of diseases and medical conditions, usually accreted around an original paper by Parkes Weber himself. He described how these 'small collections and bundles around kernels of my earliest writings on the subject' evolved in a letter to the Librarian, Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, 27 Feb 1958: "I was in the habit of surrounding my own writings with manuscript and printed correspondence, and all kinds of cuttings and small articles bearing on the subject. Many interesting autograph letters and small essays have in this way become buried and practically altogether lost." These had become 'gradually very extensive, and many of them have become dislocated and unmanageable'. On examination they have been found to include reprints and cuttings of articles, case notes, notes and annotations, correspondence, and photographs. There is also material on more general philosophical questions, and relating to his book Aspects of Death and other publications, and a little personalia and correspondence. Diaries apparently received with the papers were returned to Parkes Weber late in 1958 to assist in the preparation of the notes published as Miscellaneous Notes (see PP/FPW/D.11) and seem never to have been returned to the Wellcome Library (Parkes Weber to Dr Poynter, Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 24 Dec 1958 and 11 Feb 1959). This is a collection of major importance for the medical historian.

Parkes Weber had a very active life during a period of unprecedented developments in medicine. He produced well over 1000 articles, and was particularly interested in rare diseases and conditions: conditions with which he is eponymously associated are Rendu-Osler-Weber disease (familial telangiectasis), Weber's diseases (localised epidermolysis bullosa), Weber-Klippel syndrome (haemangiectatic hypertrophy of limbs), Weber-Christian disease (relapsing febrile nodular non-suppurative panniculitis) and Sturge-Weber-Kalischer disease (angioma of brain revealed by radiography). His papers also include much on more common ailments and phenomena, on balneological and climatological treatment, healthy life-style and the promotion of longevity, social medicine, etc. His associates and colleagues included many of the great names in medicine of his day.

Papers of Dr. Letitia Fairfield, reflecting her interests in social hygiene, in mental health, in medico-legal matters and criminology, mother and child health and welfare, and as a Roman Catholic convert, as well as her broader political and feminist convictions. There is also some biographical material.

Papers of Sir Gavin Rylands De Beer, the majority c1939-1972, consisting of: notes and drafts for publications and lectures on the history of science and literary topics; correspondence concerning literature and De Beer's scientific work; papers from De Beer's work during the First and Second World Wars; financial and legal papers; and some personal correspondence.

Papers of John Burdon Sanderson Haldane, comprising scientific notes and papers; correspondence with publishers; scientific correspondence; general correspondence; University College London departmental files, wartime committees, and other societies; and some personal financial and domestic papers. There are also some papers of Charlotte Haldane which consist of correspondence, including letters about Women Today magazine, and bills.

Correspondence of Hans Grüneberg with colleagues and friends, 1930-1982.

Papers of Thomas Jeeves Horder, 1904-1955, including Horder's appointment diaries, [one at St Bartholomew's Hospital and one at his private practice], memorabilia, Horder's talks and writings, obituaries and appreciations of his life and work, and a very small accumulation of case notes, apparently from his private practice.

Clifford Dobell's personal papers, including protozoology drawings, his reviews of books, original plates and drawings for Dobell's scientific papers. Also, Dobell's papers relating to Giovanni Battista Grassi (1854-1925) and his claim to priority in the discovery of the mode of transmission of malaria.

The letters are mostly between Gosset (known as 'Student') and Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (1890-1962) who became Professor of Eugenics at University College London. Letters from other scientists are interleaved where they bear on the correspondence.

Papers and correspondence, 1860-1944 and undated, of and relating to Sir George Dancer Thane, largely concerning his career, comprising papers on lectures, 1879-1918, including drafts and newspaper reports of his introductory address at the opening of the Medical School at University College London, 1879, and various lectures on anatomy, 1899-1918; notes, 1872-[1911], 1923-1929, on various subjects including dissection, racial characteristics, and other aspects of anatomy, and a list of books to the Anatomical Library of University College London; ten scrapbooks of anatomical drawings, 1867-1913, and undated loose anatomical drawings and medical photographs; other medical papers, 1878-[1926] and undated, including scrapbooks of medical press cuttings, 1878-1914, dates and subjects of dissection classes, 1885-1900, printed papers of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1887-1897, announcements of lectures, including some by Francis Galton, 1873-1912, papers on University reform in London, 1919, and miscellaneous others; correspondence, 1880-1930 and undated, from over 110 correspondents; personalia and ephemera, 1860-1930 and undated, including certificates, invitations and programmes, papers concerning honours including Thane's knighthood, papers relating to his death, and genealogical notes relating to the Thanes and others, and also papers concerning Lady Thane, 1884-1944; photographs, 1883-1920 and undated, including eleven photographs of Thane, 1883-1920, an undated photograph of Lady Thane, an album of photographs of their honeymoon, 1884, and a photograph of the dissecting room of University College London [1918]; box of bones and fossils.

Papers of Cedric Austen Bardell Smith, [1934]-2003, comprising biographical material including obituaries and tributes; copy of Smith's inaugural lecture as Weldon Professor, Life, Form and Number and papers relating to peace studies including articles published in The Friend.

Near complete run of Smith's publications, 1934-2003; book reviews; unpublished draft of a book on genetics and papers relating to Smith's co-editorship of Colson News including editorial board meetings, correspondence and master copies of all the issues.

Papers relating to talks and lectures chiefly comprising transparencies to illustrate lectures, on topics including genetics, statistical analysis, astrology, linguistics and place names.

Papers relating to 'Blanche Descartes' or 'F de Carteblanche' (an imaginary mathematician under which name a number of mathematicians, including Smith, published their work) including copies of the output of 'Blanche Descartes', 1947-1986 and an article 'The story of Blanche Descartes' in the Mathematical Gazette, 2003.

Fragments of Smith's research papers including computer print outs, punched cards and analysis of figures relating to the work of Michel Gauquelin; papers relating to the analysis of language and manuscript notes on Linkage.

Correspondence, 1966-1993.

The collection comprises minutes and supporting paperwork for meetings of the Committee of Management of the Audio-Visual Centre; teaching and training notes including lecture notes and questionnaires; production accounts and financial papers; shooting and activity logs and production notes; video tapes of events at the University of London; a photograph album; audio-visual reels (NOT YET CATALOGUED); annual reports and printed material including workshop handbooks, catalogues, newsletters and a review of the Audio-Visual Centre.

The papers in this collection are principally concerned with Drysdale's humanist and Malthusian beliefs and are mainly post World War I notes and drafts of chapters of unpublished books and articles. Also included is an unpublished work on family planning by Bessie Drysdale. The collection comprises papers relating to the following: Section 1: publication A Religion For Humanity; Section 2: the book The Malthusian Doctrine and Criterion of Overpopulation; Section 3: the publication To All Who Desire Permanent Peace and Prosperity: Section 4: projected book Science and Post-War Policy; Section 5: the book Wage Earners Save Yourselves!; Section 6: articles and writings on population and the Malthusian doctrine; Section 7: collection of notes and working papers on population; Section 8: collection of technical papers relating to Drysdale's Malthusian interests.

This collection consists of Ginsberg's correspondence; research notes and correspondence relating to Ginsberg's books articles, reviews and papers, including 'The Material Culture and Social Institutions of the Simpler Peoples', 'Dialogues on Metaphysics', 'Sociology', and the preface to L T Hobhouses 'Morals in Evolution'; research notes and lectures on subjects including logic, religion, morals, ethics, social psychology, and the influence of environment and heredity on race and class; papers and correspondence concerning university administration and examinations, relating predominantly to the University of London; Correspondence with L T Hobhouse and papers relating to his life and works and the Hobhouse Memorial Fund; miscellaneous papers and publications on sociological subjects including mental illness and race relations; and collected articles on sociological subjects by other authors.

Papers of Arnold White. The topics covered by the collection include gunnery, 1903 to 1905 and naval policy and strategy, on which White exchanged letters with Lord Fisher (1841-1920), Lord Charles Beresford (1848-1930) and Sir Percy Scott (1853-1924). On lower deck conditions the correspondence is largely with Lionel Yexley (1861-1933) and there are notes and letters on Ireland, emigration and eugenics.

Copies of correspondence from the Rockefeller Family Archives, pertaining to support given to the English Eugenics Society for their researches, 1934-1940, in particular the funding of Dr J R Baker's researches for the development of a cheap and safe spermicide.

MSS.3259-3285 comprise chiefly scientific material; they include student notebooks on zoology, botany and geology (MSS.3259-3280); scientific logs from the British Antarctic Expedition (MSS.3281-3283), specifically a biological log (MSS.3281-3282) and a log of whales sighted (MS.3283), both spanning 1910-1913; an address delivered in 1913 to the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association on Mendel's principle of heredity (MS.3284); and some notes on fish and fishing (MS.3285). MSS.5252-5254 comprise more personal and more miscellaneous material. MS.5252 is a scrapbook kept by Lillie, containing news cuttings, photographs and miscellaneous papers, spanning the period c.1845-1910 and including cuttings (with portrait prints) on science and scientists, 1845-1901; caricatures by Lillie of lecturers and staff at Birmingham University, 1904-1905; geological photographs, 1907-1909; family photographs (including a group class portrait at United Services' College, Westward Ho!, c.1892); and ephemera from Cambridge, 1909-1910. MS.5253 comprises cuttings from newspapers and illustrated magazines, spanning 1910-1914 and mainly relating to Robert Falcon Scott's British Antarctic Expedition. Finally MS.5254 comprises correspondence and very miscellaneous papers from the period 1824-1938 (plus some undated material) among them letters to his grandfather John Lillie D.D. (1806-1866), and to his maternal relatives the Macaire family, and letters to Lillie from E.A.N. Arber, Caroline Oates and others.

Personal papers of Letitia Fairfield, c 1930-1939, with correspondence dealing in the main with the subject of compulsory sterilisation, in particular in relation to the Nazi eugenics policy; and to the views of the Catholic Church on the subject, including correspondence with the Eugenics Society.

Papers of Sir Peter Brian Medawar, 1937-1991, relating to career, scientific research, and his writings on the philosophy of science; also biographical material collected by the late Dr Robert Reid.

The records cover the period 1927-1993, although the majority date from the 1940s to the 1970s. Notable series include general correspondence with colleagues world-wide, 1935-1984; Dr Race's research papers on human genetic markers, late 1930s/early 1940s; files of correspondence, research notes, pedigrees etc. on blood grouping investigations, 1942-1993; and a comprehensive collection of photographs recording Medical Research Council Blood Group Unit staff at work and play, 1927-[1980s].

The initial deposit, sections A-K, consists mainly of correspondence and associated papers (leaflets, memoranda, extracts from minutes, etc.). There are two main series of correspondence: 'People' and 'General' and some other distinct smaller series such as 'Branches and other Societies'. The internal arrangement of these files is normally chronological, with a few exceptions (usually an alphabetical arrangement). There are also lecturers' report sheets, publications, slides, posters, charts, and photographs, mainly but not exclusively in Section G: Propaganda and Publicity. There is a set of Annual Reports and related material 1908-1979 (Section A). Under the will of Dr. Marie Stopes the Eugenics Society was left her birth control clinic, books from her library and certain emoluments. Three boxes of her correspondence and some miscellanea, were assigned to section K. In 1988 minute books and the Society's extensive collection of press cuttings plus some financial records were added as GB0120 SA/EUG/L-N.

Twenty-four laboratory notebooks, c1902-c1904, giving records of Alfred Dukinfield Darbishire's studies of 'waltzing mice'; another similar notebook, 1904, latterly used as a visitors' book, 1942-1955, by Helen Darbishire.

Correspondence of the Follow-up Survey Sub-committee of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Population Investigation Committee (PIC) and the Institute of Child Health (University of London), 1949-1952, with some agenda and minutes of the Follow-up Survey Sub-Committee. Also includes applications to the Nuffield Foundation, survey forms and summaries of survey data.

Biographical material includes the draft of Mourant's autobiography, Blood and Stones published after his death in 1995, together with the correspondence and papers Mourant assembled while writing it. There is also documentation of Mourant's education at Victoria College Jersey and at Exeter College Oxford. The latter includes notes on lectures 1922 - ca 1926. Documentation of Mourant's career, honours and awards is patchy, although there is material relating to his search for employment in the early 1930s. There are pocket diaries spanning 1915-1982, with a fairly continuous sequence 1922-1961. Biographical material also includes extensive family and personal correspondence, much of which dates from or relates to the German occupation of Jersey or shortly thereafter. Mourant's other documented interests include his membership of the Methodist Church and his political affiliations, the League of Nations Union in particular.

There is a little material relating to Mourant's early career with the Geological Survey 1929-1931, miscellaneous material relating to Mourant's service with the MRC's Blood Group Reference Laboratory at the Lister Institute and the Nuffield (later Anthropological) Blood Group Centre at the Royal Anthropological Institute, London, and more extensive but uneven coverage of the Serological Population Genetics Laboratory. Although there is some documentation of the foundation of the Laboratory 1964-1965 and of its staff, the surviving material consists chiefly of correspondence and papers relating to Mourant's largely successful efforts to find continued funding for the Laboratory 1969-1977. Haematological research material, though not extensive, covers Mourant's work in a number of areas from research on blood serum in the mid-1940s to the mapping of blood groups in the 1960s and 1970s. There are early research notes, correspondence and papers relating to student and other expeditions undertaking blood group and physical anthropology research and some MRC material assembled by Mourant relating to projects in which he had an interest. The largest group of research papers, however, is maps and data produced during preparation of the second edition of The Distribution of the Human Blood Groups. There is a chronological sequence of drafts and correspondence relating to Mourant's publications, 1929-1991, with extensive material relating to editions of The Distribution of the Human Blood Groups and to The Genetics of the Jews (1978). There is also editorial correspondence relating to publishers and journals, chiefly invitations to review books or referee papers and an incomplete set of offprints. There is correspondence and papers relating to some of Mourant's lectures and broadcasts, most notably the lectures on blood groups given at the Collège de France, Toulouse, 1978-1979. Societies and organisations material is not extensive, and is confined to brief documentation of only a few of the societies and organisations with which Mourant was associated. It includes professional and geological bodies as well as haematological, biological and medical organisations. Visits and conferences material covers the period 1960-1987. It is not comprehensive, though there is also considerable documentation of Mourant's visits and conferences in the papers he assembled in the course of preparing his biography and with lectures material. Mourant's correspondence is extensive. Its complexity reflects Mourant's organisation of the material, the bulk of which was found in three main series: 'Foreign 1965-1977', 'Biological' and 'Geological', together with a fragment of a fourth series 'Home 1965-1977'. Principal correspondents include C.C. Blackwell, B. Bonné, O.J. Brendemoen, V.A. Clarke, L.L. Cavalli-Sforza, A. W. Eriksson, T.J. Greenwalt, J.K. Moor-Jankowski, T. Jenkins, W.S. Pollitzer, D.F. Roberts, J. Ruffié, D. Tills and J.S. Weiner.

Papers of John Michael Robson on pharmacology, endocrinology and reproductive physiology, 1940s, 1967-1975; incomplete draft history of the Institute of Animal Genetics, Edinburgh, [post 1945].

The Josephine Butler Society Library is an unrivalled resource for the study of sexuality and public morality from the late nineteenth to the mid twentieth century. This unique collection of books, pamphlets, periodicals, leaflets and, campaigning documents, covers subjects ranging from the regulation of prostitution, venereal disease, social purity, sexuality and public health to criminology, penology, eugenics and population control. Although a small number of individual items continue to be added to the collection by the Josephine Butler Society, the bulk of the printed materials date from the late nineteenth and early to mid twentieth centuries.

The Josephine Butler Society Library is particularly important because it brings together the Library of the organisation alongside its campaigning literature and business papers. In addition to sources for the study of prostitution and attitudes to sexuality in Britain the collection includes significant amounts of material on slavery, procuring, public health and the armed forces in India. It contains late nineteenth century works on sexology by Havelock Ellis, Bloch, Forel and Krafft-Ebing and psychology by Freud, Jung and Ellis, as well as works on marriage, the family and sex education. Although most material in the collection is in English there are small but significant numbers of works in European languages. The geographic scope of the collection extends beyond Britain and the Commonwealth; papers of the International Bureau for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons 1899-1968, for example, relate to the Bureau's work with the League of Nations.

Papers of Sir Francis Galton, consisting of papers relating to the personal history of Galton and his family, 1612-1926; papers relating to Galton's scientific work, 1850-1922; and correspondence 1765-1923.

Manuscript paper, 'Contributions to evolution theory', sent to the zoologist Sir John Graham Kerr on 1 September 1922. All red marks, and probably all ink marks, done by Kerr.

Papers of Lionel Sharples Penrose, 1806-1974, comprising personal papers relating to Penrose and his family, 1806-1974; papers relating to the professional training, medical, scientific and voluntary work of Penrose, 1918-1972; letters, mainly to Penrose, 1915-1973.

Papers of Francis Graham Crookshank, 1925, comprising a copy Crookshank's book The Mongol in our Midst: A study of man and his three faces 2nd edition (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co Ltd, New York, 1925). Including manuscript notes made by Dr Thomas Brushfield.

Papers of Reginald Ruggles Gates, 1896-1969, including diaries and research notebooks, papers relating to Botanical Biology; Gates' research files; photographs; appointment diaries; correspondence; papers relating to professional memberships and conference material; press cuttings and published articles on his research interests.

Including diaries and research notebooks, 1906-1962. Papers relating to Botanical Biology, an unpublished work by Gates, including manuscript notes, statistics, photographs and plant seeds. Research files, including draft papers by Gates such as notes from publications, articles, lecture transcripts, lecture notes, chapters of books, book reviews and others. Also photographs, articles, tables of data on physical characteristics of various peoples, graphs and charts, press cuttings and correspondence, on a variety of subjects including botany, oenothera, ethnic groups, race, genetics, biology, anthropology and Gates' anthropological studies in Australia, Canada, Cuba, India, Japan, Mexico, New Guinea, Okinawa, South Africa and Taiwan. Photographs from Gates' travels to Algeria, the Amazon river, Andamanese Islands, Australia, California, Canada, Canadian Arctic, Cuba, England, Gibraltar, Italy, India, Japan, Kenya, Morocco, New Guinea, Russia, Sicily, South Africa, South Rhodesia, Spain, Swedish Lapland and Tunisia; photographs of plant life, particularly oenothera; lecture slides; photographs used for publication in various books and articles by Gates; photographs of human and ape skulls and skeletons, photographs of people suffering from genetic diseases and personal photographs. Appointment diaries, 1921-1962. Personal and professional correspondence, including personal financial papers, 1903-1962. Papers relating to professional memberships and conference material, 1922-1962; press cuttings collected by Gates, 1915-1962 and printed material collected by Gates and his widow, 1928-1966, on subjects relating to his research including oenothera, botany, race, blood groups, physical anthropology, human biology, genetics, prehistoric man and population.

Sections A and B consist of papers found in the Old Dead Registry of the London School of Economics in 1980. Section A files have LSE Registry numbers and concern School affairs. Section B files were not registered, and relate to his research interests and public service, including outgoing letters, general correspondence and subject files. These include some confidential School business. The general correspondence files (B2) include material relating to organisations such as For Intellectual Liberty and the Eugenics Society, and the subject files include material concerning juvenile delinquency, populations, and the Commission on Higher Education in the Colonies. A small quantity of additional material, listed as Section C comprise engagement diaries and letters of congratulation to Sir Alexander on becoming Director of LSE.