Correspondence of Sir Edward Sabine, together with two volumes of correspondence on Terrestrial Magnetism by Sir Edward Sabine, Reverend Humphrey Lloyd and others.

Identifications and field notes by Edred John Henry Corner and Wee Lek Chew from the Royal Society's expeditions to Kinabalu, North Borneo, 1961 and 1964; with a preliminary report on the Cambridge expedition to Mount Kinabalu, 1965.

An account of the Mato Grosso based on the Royal Society and Royal Geographical Society expedition to central Brazil in 1967-1969 by Anthony Smith. Typescript marked 'First draft'.

Papers of the African Association, 1788-1831, including microfilm and enlarged prints from microfilm of the Association's minute books of its Committee Meetings (1788-1809), General Meetings (1790-1831) and Meetings of the Saturday Club (from 1799 the African Club) (1788-1815) and miscellaneous correspondence: nine items of different dates (1808-1822) principally concerning John Lewis Burkhardt.

Papers of Alexander Douglas Mitchell Carruthers, 1904-1957, comprise travel diaries and notebooks from Syria and Lebanon, Central Africa, Turkestan and Arabia; correspondence, notes, published articles and cuttings about birds, mammals and other natural history topics.

Journals, charts and other papers relating to A H Ninnis' commission as purser in SS AURORA on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1916 and the Relief Expedition, 1916-1917.

The papers include diaries of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition, 23 Dec 1914-12 Feb 1917, with a single volume typescript summary of the diaries; notebook entitled 'The Log of Taroona Camp, H E Wild and A H N with the 26 and stores for dog teams' including notes of equipment and stores for the dog teams; list of the dogs' names and a journal headed 'RMS Ionic, Hobart, Ocean Quay', 31 Oct-24 Dec 1914; copies of letters from Ninnis including to Ernest Shackleton, 6 Jan-5 Feb 1920 and to John Lachlan Cope, 9 Jun 1920; press cuttings, 1919-1920; papers reviewing Antarctic exploration achieved and proposals for another expedition under J L Cope in TERRA NOVA, for 1923; printed prospectus of Cope's Antarctic expedition; Ninnis' certificate of discharge made out at Wellington, New Zealand, Feb 1917; three large charts titled 'Map of the Antarctic East Longitude 150°-180° showing drift of SY Aurora', 1931 (the three are similar but two have small insets of landscape sketches); small chart entitled 'Map of the Bay of Whales', from a survey by Blackburn and Coman, Byrd Antarctic expedition, 1929-1930, with a second sketch map showing the route of Byrd's polar flight; three volumes of uncorrected typescript of High Latitude by J K Davis.

Papers of Alexander Hamilton Rice, 1917-1928, comprising notes and observations by Rice including of the Rio Grande, Brazil, 1917 and 1919-1920; notes and correspondence about expeditions of 1924-1925 and 1926-1928; journals 1920-1921 from South American expeditions 'The Rio Negro, the Casquiare Canal and the upper Orinoco'; and journal entitled 'Some notes on the Brazilian Amazon and the Venezuela-Guyana expedition', 1925.

Papers relating to the SS TERRA NOVA's relief mission to the DISCOVERY, 1903-1904, including seven log books with pencil sketches [possibly by Second Mate Thomas Elms], 1903-1904; diary of First Officer A P Jackson on the above voyage (very few entries) and letters from T B Jackson, brother of A P Jackson.

Papers of Bertram Sidney Thomas, 1930-1940, including lists and notes on observations made during his expedition to southern Arabia, 1930: appendices to article by Thomas, 'A Journey into Rub' Al Khali: The Southern Arabian Desert', The Geographical Journal, Vol. 77, No. 1 (Jan, 1931), pp. 1-31; and astronomical observations, Arabia, 1930-1931.

Royal Geographical Society Correspondence Block, 1931-1940, consists of correspondence with the Society covering administrative matters as well as all aspects of geography and exploration throughout the world. These files contain incoming letters only, replies are held separately in the out-letter books. Authors include Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker, British Grahamland Expedition; Francis Chichester; Vivian Fuchs; Tom H Harrison, William Harold and Doreen Constance Ingrams, Ronald Kaulbeck, Eric Shipton, Wilfred Thesiger, Brig Ralph Alger Bagnold, Dr John Ball, Louis Charles Bernacchi, Charles Kenneth Howard Bury, Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd, Douglas Carruthers, Gertrude Caton-Tompson, F Spencer Chapman, Augustine Courtauld, Sir Percy Z Cox, Frank Debenham, George Miller Dyott, Lincoln Ellsworth, Filippi de Filipo, Rosita Forbes, Douglas William Freshfield, William Joseph Harding King, Halford J Mackinder, Thomas Henry Manning, Sir Douglas Mawson, Dr Hugh Robert Mill, Mrs Wilhelmina Ness, Edward Felix Norton, Noel Ewart Odell, Harry St John Philby, Alexander Hamilton Rice, Hugh Ruttledge, Francis Sydney Smythe, Prof James Alfred Steers, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Sir Mark Aurel Stein, Sir Percy Molesworth Sykes, Prof Eva Germaine Rimington Taylor, L R Wagner, Frank Kingdon Ward, Henry 'Gino' Watkins and Sir Francis Younghusband.

Royal Geographical Society Correspondence Block, 1841-1850, consists of correspondence with the Society covering administrative matters as well as all aspects of geography and exploration throughout the world. These files contain incoming letters only, replies are held separately in the out-letter books. Authors include the Admiralty, John Arrowsmith, Sir George Back, William Ainsworth, Sir Francis Beaufort, Charles Tilstone Beke, the Bombay Geographical Society, William D Cooley, G W Earl, the Foreign Office, William John Hamilton, Sir William Hooker, A K Johaston, the Linneaen Society, Roderick Impey Murchison, John Murray, Ordnance Survey, Mansfield Parkyns, Adm William Henry Smyth, Rev George Cecil Renouard, John Washington and James Wyld.

Royal Geographical Society Correspondence Block, 1871-1880, consists of correspondence with the Society covering administrative matters as well as all aspects of geography and exploration throughout the world. These files contain incoming letters only, replies are held separately in the out-letter books. Authors include the Admiralty, Sir Rutherford Alcock, Sir George Back, John Thomas Baines, Dr Charles Tilstone Beke, William Clowes and Sons, Colonial Office, Robert Needham Cust, Charles Montagu Doughty, Ney Elias, the Foreign Office, Douglas William Freshfield, Francis Galton, Col Charles George Gordon, Col James Augustus Grant, Dr Joseph Hooker, A Keith Johnston (jnr), Dr Sir John Kirk, Adm Sir Francis Leopold McClintock, Clements R Markham, A E Nordenskiold, the Palestine Exploration Fund, Augustus Petermann, Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen, Joseph Thomson, Alfred Russel Wallace, Rev Horace Waller, Edward Whymper and Col Henry Yule.

Royal Geographical Society Correspondence Block, 1911-1920, consists of correspondence with the Society covering administrative matters as well as all aspects of geography and exploration throughout the world. These files contain incoming letters only, replies are held separately in the out-letter books. Authors include Roald Amundsen, the Anglo Swedish Antarctic Expedition, Henry Haversham Godwin Austen, Miss Gertrude Bell, William Spiers Bruce, Prof Hiram Bingham, Douglas Carruthers, Charles Frederick Arden-Close, Sir William Martin Conway, John Lachlan Cope, Lord George Nathaniel Curzon, Charles M Doughty, Douglas William Freshfield, Sven Hedrin, Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich, Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston, Dr Alexander Mitchell Kellas, Sir John Scott Keltie, Prince Peter Kropotkin, Sir Clements Robert Markham, Kate Marsden, Dr Douglas Mawson, Dr Hugh Robert Mill, Fridtjof Nansen, Dr Hamilton Rice, William Routledge, Katherine Routledge, Capt Robert Falcon Scott, J Foster Stackhouse, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Sir Mark Aurel Stein, Sir Everard im Thurn, Frank Kingdon Ward, Lt James Mann Wordie and Sir Francis Younghusband.

Manuscript, c1760, entitled 'Directions for sailing from the harbour of Halifax to Quebec, by James Cook, Master of His Majesty's Ship Northumberland'. The text is written in Cook's hand throughout. Pasted into the manuscript are a table showing latitude and longitude of capes etc (f 17r) and a list of names, mostly of native chiefs encountered in the Pacific on Cook's first and second voyages (f 18r).

Bound correspondence of Thomas Crawford Johnston, 1914-1921, on the subject of his book Did the Phoenicians discover America? (published by James Nisbet & Company, Ltd., Berner Street, London, 1913), including correspondence with Prof. G C Chisholm, Prof. J S Nicholson, Thomas Athol Joyce, Prof. Grafton Elliot Smith, Prof. Herbert E Gregory and Prof. Louis R Sullivan.

Papers of Sir George Duncan Gibb, comprising:

Manuscript volume entitled 'Geological Rambles around Montreal and its Vicinity. With an account of the history, physical geography and geology of the island. Illustrated with a coloured geological map and numerous wood engravings, by Sir George Duncan Gibb, Bart, MA, MD, LLD, FGS, London 1868'. According to the letter of transmissal (pasted into the front of the volume) and the preface, Gibb's intention was for the work to be published but it was never financially viable to do so. The volume is set out as if it were a published work, with chapters and 'woodcut' illustrations (mostly of fossils) which are in fact original ink drawings by Gibb. The descriptions contained in the volume were compiled between 1851-1853 (although at least one of the illustrations is dated 1855), before the Victoria Bridge and the Grand Trunk Railway were constructed, and prior to the area being covered by the Geological Survey of Canada.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
History of Montreal
Physical Geography of Montreal
Geology of Montreal

Chapter 1 - To Mount Royal to examine the Trap of which is is composed

Chapter 2 - To Côte-des-Neiges and McGill College to examine the Leda clay and Trap Dykes

Chapter 3 - To Pampinean Road, to examine a broad band of intercalated trap and Ice grooves

Chapter 4 - To Cadiuex Village to see Tertiary deposits in which were found bones of whales and seals

Chapter 5 - To the Mile End quarries to see the limestones at the base of the Trenton formation

Chapter 6 - To the Second Mile End quarries and La Chapelles Bridge, to examine the Chazy limestone

Chapter 7 - To the Tanneries of St Henri and Lac St Pierre to see the Alluvial deposits

Chapter 8 - To Côte St Michel, to explain Gibb's Cavern

Chapter 9 - To Mount Royal to examine a Fissure in the Limestone Rock

Chapter 10 - To Bouchette's Cavern, Kildare in the Laurentian limestones

Chapter 11 - To St Anne's to examine the Potsdam sandstone

Chapter 12 - To Beauharnois to examine the various beds of Foot-tracks

Chapter 13 - To Pointe Cavagnol, Vaudreiul, to examine the locality of the broadest Protichnites or Foot-tracks

Chapter 14 - To Lachute, Riviere du Nord, to examine the Track bed and its relations

Chapter 15 - To Mont Calvaire, Lake of Two Mountains to examine the gneiss of which it is composed; and also sand hills

Chapter 16 - To the Trap Mountain of Rigaud on the Ottawa River, with a multitude of small rounded boulders of trap on its summit

Chapter 17 - To Montarville, to see the Boucherville Mountain and its two little crater lakes

Chapter 18 - To Mount Rouville, otherwise called Chambly or Beloeil Mountain, and its crater lake

Chapter 19 - To Rougemont, composed of Dolerite Trap

Chapter 20 - To Yamaska Mountain, to see micaceous trachyte and diorite of which it is composed

Chapter 21 - To Monnoir to visit Mount Johnson, formed of feldspathic diorite

Chapter 22 - To Lachine and Caughnawaga [Kahnawake], to see multitudes of Boulders, Trap dykes, and limestones of the Chazy formation

Chapter 23 - To Pointe Claire to examine the quarries of limestone and marble

Chapter 24 - To Isle Bizard and White Horse Rapids to see two outliers of Dolomite conglomerate of the Upper Silurian Division

Chapter 25 - To the Village and Seigniory of Terrebonne to examine the Upper Laurentian Rocks

Chapter 26 - To St Helen's Island to examine the Dolomitic Conglomerate and its relations

Chapter 27 - To the Fort and Basin of Chambly on the River Richelieu

Chapter 28 - To the Pinnacle Mountain of St Armand formed of the Quebec group of rocks

Chapter 29 - To Varennes to see the Mineral Springs arising from the Utica Shales

Chapter 30 - To Grenville on the Ottawa River, to examine the serpentine and other Eozoic rocks

Chapter 31 - To Chatham on the Ottawa to see the beds of syenite and enromous accumulation of boulders

Chapter 32 - To Perth, to examine the Potsdam beds, containing Climactichnites associated with Protichnites

Travel journals and papers of John Petherick and his wife Katherine Harriet Petherick, 1862-1870.

Morrison and Hobson family papers, 1807-1963. The papers are the product of a period of considerable spiritual, cultural and political change in China. They are a significant source for study of the development of Protestant missions in China (in particular the role of the medical mission and the introduction of Western medicine), and also provide evidence of the involvement of the missionaries with issues of British trade and diplomacy.

MSS. 5827-5852: correspondence and papers, especially of the Revd Robert Morrison (1782-1834), missionary in China, 1807-1834; John Robert Morrison (1814-1843), Chinese interpreter, Colonial Secretary of the Hong Kong government; and Dr Benjamin Hobson (1816-1873), medical missionary in China, 1839-1859. The majority comprise personal and domestic correspondence of the Morrison and Hobson families and their friends, with less emphasis on official papers, although the collection includes letters on the Peacock expedition to Siam and Cochin China led by Edmund Roberts (1784-1836), United States merchant and diplomat, 1832 (MS.5830), and letters to Benjamin Hobson from leading missionaries. 1843-1862 (MS.5839). Insight into missionary work in China can be gained in particular from the letters of the Revd. Robert Morrison. MS. 7127: 'Domestic Memoir of Mrs Morrison', by the Revd. Robert Morrison, addressed to his children Mary Rebecca and John Robert Morrison (1814-1843), 5-7 January 1824. Mary Morrison, Robert's first wife, died of cholera at Macao on 10 June 1821. This memoir was compiled by Robert Morrison during the voyage home from China aboard H.E.I.C.S. Waterloo.

Correspondence, papers and journals of Charles Tilstone Beke, 1824-1910, principally relating to Abyssinia and the Middle East, with papers of his wife Emily Beke (née Alston). The collection holds information on all aspects of Beke's career, from his early legal training to the search for employment and financial security of his final years. His intervening travels, geographical and biblical studies and resulting publications are documented by journals, notebooks and printed material. Correspondence includes that generated during Beke's secretaryship of the National Association for the Protection of Industry and Capital throughout the British Empire; and generally reflects a wide range of scholarly acquaintance and interests. Supplementary papers of Emily Beke record her championing of C.T. Beke's posthumous reputation, and her attempts to gain recompense for his occasional government service.

Letters and papers of Charles George Gordon, known as 'Chinese Gordon' and later 'Gordon of Khartoum', with related letters by his brother, Colonel S.E. Gordon, and Captain C Orde Browne, 1856-1884.

The letters and papers document many aspects of Gordon's career, including his service in China and the Sudan. They shed light on his political views, religious faith and personal ambitions and are especially important in showing his interest in biblical history and archaeology.

The letters were largely addressed to fellow officers in the Royal Engineers.

Photocopies of journals, 1887-1889, of A J Mounteney Jephson, comprising Books One to Four, giving a detailed description of activities of H M Stanley's expedition to relieve Emin Pasha, including the journey via Zanzibar, and the hardships faced. Book Three includes copies of some of Stanley's correspondence. Book Four, covering April to [October] 1889, is less detailed than Books One to Three, and less accurately dated. With typescript transcriptions of the journals [1960s] for Dorothy Middleton's published edition.

Correspondence and papers of Sir Charles Fellows and Lady Fellows (1835-1871) and illustrations from Fellows' second expedition to Asia Minor. The papers primarily reflect Fellows' interest in research into Asia Minor - in particular the Lycian marbles.

MSS. 5958-5963 comprise journals of A B Barton, mainly written while he was a medical officer in the service of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P & O), 1853-1858. They cover his journeys between Bombay, Singapore and Hong Kong; to the Crimea; and to the Far East. They include descriptions of the progress of the Chinese rebellion (MS. 5959), tending to and transporting the sick and wounded from Balaclava to Scutari (MS. 5960), and his shipwreck off the coast of Ceylon, together with General Henry Havelock, on the steamer Erin (MS. 5962). Some are manuscript or typescript copies. MSS. 7589-7594 comprise journals and sketches mainly relating to the Yangtse expedition, led by Captain Thomas W Blakiston, on which Barton served as a medical officer, 1861. One journal, MS. 7591, also records the end of the expedition and Barton's journey to Ceylon via Singapore, with entries on hunting expeditions in Ceylon. The journals are all fair copies. MS. 7592 comprises a narrative of the Yangste expedition read by Barton to the Royal Geographical Society, based on his journals. MS. 7593 is a series of mainly topographical illustrations relating to the expedition, comprising sketches by Barton, plus photographs and engravings based on other sketches by Barton, some of which were used to illustrate Five Months on the Yang-Tse by Thomas W Blakiston (London: John Murray, 1862). MS. 7594 comprises later papers of Brian M Gould relating to Barton and his journals, 1967 and n.d.

The main part of these manuscripts is a translation into English of part of the published account of de Bruin's travels. There is also a transcription of a small portion of Sir John Chardin's travels. The first volume is signed by Joseph Smith, probably Joseph Smith whose biographical details are noted under the appropriate heading, and some of the manuscripts are in his hand.

Circa 5000 books collected by Vane Ivanovic. The strength of the library is books on 20th Century Balkan history and books on the Second World War, although there are books on a number of other subjects including the history of the Olympic Games and Spear-fishing. There are also a small number of books pre-dating 1900, going back to the 1490s. The vast majority of books are in English, although a small number are in other Western European languages or Serbo-Croat.

Letters and papers of Alexander Gordon Laing chiefly relating to his last and fatal expedition to Timbuktoo.

Expedition papers of James Andrew Grant relating to the Royal Society expedition to the Solomon Islands in 1965 and to subsequent work in Australia. Includes a large number of photographic slides.

Additional notes, 1907, to an article by August Ferber in the Geographical Journal entitled 'An Exploration of the Mustagh Pass in the Karakoram Himalayas', Vol. 30, No. 6 (Dec., 1907), pp. 630-643.

Papers of A G E Jones including biographical notes on Sir Allen Young, 1981; biographical notes on John L Cope, 1982; lists of ships leaving London for New South Wales and Van Diemans Land, 1786-1825; copies of press cuttings relating to finding the grave of one of Franklin's men in North Canada, 1984; copies of two letters on the loss of the log book of the DISCOVERY, 1904; copy of an article by Jaones in 'Notes and Queries' Dec 1984 on the crew of the TERROR and Franklin's last voyage; copies of two pages from the log of the SOUTHERN CROSS; typescripts of 'The Southern whale fishery' and 'Danial Bennett and Company', 1968.

Papers of Capt Alexander Maconochie, 1833-1971, including photocopies of letters concerning the Chair of Geography at London University and his decision to go to Van Diemen's Land, 1833-1836; a statement on his differences with Sir John Franklin, Mar 1839, including copies of letters from F M Innes, J C Macdougall, G Robertson, and Sir Alfred Stephen and original letters from J C Macdougall, 28 Mar 1839, and G Robinson, 22 Mar 1839; 22 letters addressed to Sir John Scott Keltie in his capacity as the Secretary of the Society, 1834-1839; letter from Hobart Town, 22 Jun 1837 on the natives at Port Phillip in Australia and containing a sketch of the structure of Van Diemen's Land and photograph of Maconochie's headstone, 1971.

Royal Geographical Society Correspondence Block 1830-1833 consists of correspondence with the Society in the first four years after its foundation. The letters cover administrative matters as well as all aspects of Geography and exploration throughout the world. These files contain incoming letters only, replies are held separately in the out-letter books. Authors include John Arrowsmith, Sir George Back, Friedrich Bialloblotsky, Robert Fitzroy, William Richard Hamilton, Baron Alexander von Humboldt, Alexander Maconochie, William Marsden, Paris Geographical Society, Dr John Richardson and Robert Hermann Schomburgk.

Royal Geographical Society Correspondence Block, 1941-1946, consists of correspondence with the Society covering administrative matters as well as all aspects of geography and exploration throughout the world. These files contain incoming letters only, replies are held separately in the out-letter books. Authors include Prof Hans Ahlmann, William G V Balchin, Miss Lucy Evelyn Cheesman, Francis Chichester, Augustine Courtauld, Charles Frederick Arden-Close, Thomas Walter Freeman, Rupert Thomas Gould, Edward Heawood, Arthur R Hinks, Thomas Henry Manning, Einar Mikkelsen, Prof Eva Germaine Rimington Taylor, Prof James Alfred Steers, Sir Mark Aurel Stein, Frank Sydney Smythe, James Mann Wordie, the War Office, United Nations, K S Sandford, Scott Polar Research Institute, Wilfred Thesiger and the Ordnance Survey.

Royal Geographical Society Correspondence Block, 1861-1870, consists of correspondence with the Society covering administrative matters as well as all aspects of geography and exploration throughout the world. These files contain incoming letters only, replies are held separately in the out-letter books. Authors include Charles T Beke, William Bollaert, Richard Francis Burton, John Thomas Baines, Ney Elias, Col Sir George Everest, Francis Galton, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Dr John Kirk, Clements R Markham, John Petherick and the Zoological Society.

Royal Geographical Society Correspondence Block, 1921-1930, consists of correspondence with the Society covering administrative matters as well as all aspects of geography and exploration throughout the world. These files contain incoming letters only, replies are held separately in the out-letter books. Authors include the Alpine Club, Charles Frederick Arden-Close, John Baddeley, Brig R A Bagnold, Dr John Ball, Louis Charles Bernacchi, Brig Gen Clarence Dalrymple Bruce, Commader Richard Evelyn Byrd, Sir Douglas Carruthers, Gertrude Caton-Thompson, Maj Robert Ernest Cheesman, Augustine Courtauld, Sir Percy Cox, Frank Debenham, George Miller Dyott, Lincoln Ellsworth, Filippi de Filippo, Rosita Forbes, Sir George Fordham, Sir Douglas William Freshfield, Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston, William Joseph Harding King, Dr Tom George Longstaff, Halford J Mackinder, Sir Douglas Mawson, Dr Hugh Robert Mill, Fridtjof Nansen, Mrs Wilhelmina Ness, Edward Felix Norton, Noel Ewart Odell, Harry St John Philby, A Hamilton Rice, Hugh Ruttledge, Frank S Smythe, Michael A Spender, Prof James Alfred Steers, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Sir Mark Aurel Stein, Sir Percy M Sykes, Prof Eva G R Taylor, Bertram Thomas, Frank Kingdon Ward, James Mann Wordie, Sir Francis Younghusband and Henry Gino Watkins.

Papers of Clarence Dalrymple Bruce, 1901-1907, comprise a diary of a journey across Asia in 1907; copies of an article for the London Evening Standard, 1902-1903; account of a ride from Peking to Lake Baikal; and two volumes of a route report from Tibet to Peking.

Papers of Charles Moore Watson, 1871-1920, comprising a field notebook, lists of instruments and observations, upper Nile, 1874.

Collection of private journals, notebooks, letters articles and addresses of Sir Clement Markham relating to his life in the Royal Navy and to the period when he was closely involved with the work of the Royal Geographical Society as Honorary Secretary and later as President. The private journals cover various dates from 1844-1880 and from then form a continuous series to 1908. There are also private diaries of his father and of his wife. The notebooks include 8 volumes referring to the history of his, and his wife's, family; notes on biblical studies, South America, Portugal, Madeira, Spain, India and Ceylon. The manuscripts of articles and addresses given by Markham cover a wide range of subjects. The collection totals approximately 100 items.

Papers of David Livingstone including autograph letters and articles; one small watercolour; copies of letters to various correspondents; a notebook of astronomical observations and many letters and copies of letters from relations; friends and the Foreign Office referring to Livingstone.

Papers relating to the period 1850-1852, including a letter from Livingstone to William Cotton Oswell dated from Kuruman Sept 20 1852 which contains an account of the activities of the Boers around Kuruman and towards Sechele and copies of letters, 1850-1851, to the London Missionary Society. (9 items)

Papers, 1853-1857, principally concerning the expedition to Loanda, Linyanti and the Victoria Falls. These include 10 letters from Livingstone in Africa, 1853-1856, reporting to the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) on the progress of the expedition, the discovery of the Victoria Falls etc (long extracts from these letters were published by the RGS); a letter dated [25 Aug 1856] to the Editor of the 'Athenaeum' discussing 'easy chair versus field geography'; 18 letters from English addresses, Jan 1857-Feb 1858 to Dr Norton Shaw (the Society's Secretary) in which Livingstone asks for information on the mouth of the Zambesi, requires a copper boat, comments on his book, maps, family matters and the London Missionary Society; copies of letters from Livingstone to E Gabriel from Cassange, 14 Feb 1855, to Mr Sturge from Tette, 11 Dec 1858 and to Mr Layard from Bombay, 28 Sep 1865. (76 items)

Papers, 1858-1865, concerning the expedition to the Shiré, Zambesi and Lake Nyasa. These include 8 letters from Livingstone in Africa 1860-1864, to Sir Roderick Murchison and Dr Norton Shaw at the RGS reporting on the progress of the expedition; a small watercolour of the Victoria Falls; a report on the navigation of the Zambesi; an article in which Livingstone summarises proceedings of the expedition and activities of Universities Mission [probable date Jan 1862]; letters from Mary Livingstone to Dr. Norton Shaw, 1858 and 1860; copies of 19 letters from Livingstone to Macgregor Laird, the Foreign Office, Sir Thomas Maclear, E. Gabriel, the Rev A Monk, 1858-1862. (54 items).

Papers, 1865-1873, concerning Livingstone's last expedition. These include 3 letters from Livingstone to Sir Roderick Murchison, 2 Feb 1867; to Sir Thomas Maclear 8 Jul 1868, to Sir Henry Rawlinson dated from South Central Africa 1873 [probably written in early April, and the last known communication addressed by Livingstone to any official of the RGS]; a notebook of astronomical observations 1872-1873; a collection of news cuttings of 1872 about Livingstone and H M Stanley; copies of 17 letters from Livingstone to the Foreign Office, Sir Bartle Frere, Dr. John Kirk, Sir Roderick Murchison and Mr Seward; letters of Dr. John Kirk, H A Churchill and others communicating news and rumours about Livingstone. (60 items).

Papers relating to the death and funeral of Livingstone. (11 items).

Papers of the Mount Everest Committee and the Joint Himalayan Committee, 1918-1953, including correspondence, minute books, reports, lectures, publications, films, photographs, papers relating to stores and equipment, press cuttings, papers relating to personnel, financial papers relating to the 1921, 1922, 1924, 1933, 1935, 1938 and 1953 expeditions to Mount Everest.

Papers of the Mount Everest Foundation including correspondence and printed material relating to expeditions, minutes, annual reports, audit papers and applications for expeditions, 1953 onwards.

Papers of Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton comprising correspondence, mementoes and ephemera relating mainly to Shackleton's Antarctic expeditions including the Nimrod Expedition 1908-1909, the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (Endurance Expedition) 1914-1916 and the Quest Expedition 1921-1923; two photograph albums of Aurora; minute book of the Shackleton Memorial Committee and a photocopy of a diary of Thomas Orde Lees on Elephant Island, 1916.

Papers of Eric Shipton, 1921-1972, including correspondence, 1952-1967; exercise book containing notes on the Vulim Wolf party describing a visit to a volcanic crater, Galapagos Islands; drafts of publications by Shipton including That Untravelled World, Mountain Conquest and Land of Tempest; drafts of articles by Shipton and typescripts of talks for the BBC; photographic prints, negatives, postcards and press cuttings of Shipton and Shipton in group photographs and VHS cassette of an interview with Shipton, broadcast on Australian television, 1972.

Papers of Edward Stirling, 1828-1829, comprising journal of a voyage in the Persian Gulf, departed from Bombay, 1828; description of Khorassan [Khorasan], 1830; journal of a journey from Tehran to Meshed, 1828 and a journey from Meshed to Balkh-Kabul, 1828; volume containing botanical observations begun in Sept, 1828, in Meshed, and copies of letters from William Moorcroft, 1821 and 1823 and 'an account of the accidents which befell Mr Moorcroft and the party with him in Turkestan as given by Luskeree Khan one of his servants.'

Copies of diaries of Frederick James Stevenson, of his travels in North and South America, 1863-1869, comprising Vol. 1 USA and Havana, 1863-1867; Vols 2 and 3, eastern States of South America, 1867-1868; Vol. 4, Patagonia, 1868 and Vol. 5, Bolivia and Peru, 1868-1869.

Two notebooks of Frank Kingdon Ward, 1911-1958, including bearings, positions and topographical notes made in Tibet, 1933-1934, and statement of the results of his observations.

Papers of George Wharton Marriott including diaries of a world tour, volume 1, 30 July 1885-1887; May 1886, London to Tenerife to Cape Town to New Zealand (also some notes on Fiji) and Volume 2, 8 May-18 Sept 1886 Australia-South China-Peking-Japan.

Papers of Sir George Nares including notes concerning the voyage of HMS ALERT and HMS DISCOVERY, 1875-1876; copy of instructions for survey in the ALERT, 1878 and list of dangers requiring examination; autographed menu for a dinner given to welcome home members of the ALERT and DISCOVERY expedition, 6 Dec 1876; note made in preparation for an obituary of Nares; song sheet of 'Away to the North: a song for the Arctic expedition of 1875' by M Mackay.

Fifteen watercolours of Turkistan (Ladakh, Kashgar and Yarkand) by George Hayward some with descriptive text on backs; two sketch plans of Kashgar and Yarkand forts and photograph of the grave of Hayward.

Papers relating to Herbert Ward, 1881-1996, including a bound book of newscuttings relating to Emin Pasha (and some Arctic items) and a video of Sir Colville Barclay speaking about his grandfather, Herbert Ward, filmed 1996.

Papers of Sir James Clark Ross, 1819-1875, including log as sub-lieutenant on HMS HECLA, on W E Parry's first expedition on search of the North-West Passage, 1819-1920; letter, letter-draft and memorandum, 1838, containing proposals for an expedition in search of the North-West Passage; letter from Ross on the HMS EREBUS to the Royal Geographical Society reporting on his Antarctic voyage, 1842; and copy, made by Allen Young in 1875, of a message left by Ross at Cape Coulman, 7 Jun 1849.

Copy, by a later hand, of journal of Capt Sir John Hawley Glover in letter form from SS DAYSPRING (second Niger expedition of W B Baikie), 8 May 1857-27 Jan 1858.