Articles and letters by various authors relating to the islands of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, including West New Guinea, sent to the Royal Geographical Society for publication in its Journals, 1830-1952. The articles were often sent to referees and their reports are often to be found with the article, in some cases the referee report has been retained even though the article has been returned to the author.

Articles and letters by various authors relating to Central, South and East Africa, including Madagascar, sent to the Royal Geographical Society for publication in its Journals, 1830-1952. The articles were often sent to referees and their reports are often to be found with the article, in some cases the referee report has been retained even though the article has been returned to the author.

Articles and letters by various authors relating to Central Asia, including Asiatic Russia, Mongolia and Sinkiang, sent to the Royal Geographical Society for publication in its Journals, 1836-1947. The articles were often sent to referees and their reports are often to be found with the article, in some cases the referee report has been retained even though the article has been returned to the author.

Papers of Sir Keith Alexander Jackson including diary in Persia, 1828-1829, including notes on a voyage down the Tigris and Euphrates to Bossora; private journal, 1838, of the storming of Ghuznee; journal on a voyage from Bombay to England, 1841 and rough note- and letter-book, 1842-1843.

Papers of Vice-Consul Chaillet, comprise 'Observations on the western coast of the Morocco state during my journey from Mogador to Tangier in July and August, 1830; memorandum respecting the foundation of Mogador, its trade, descriptions of the bay...' , bound with copy of a letter to Consul-General Douglas, 21 Aug. 1828, concerning the death of Major Laing.

Correspondence and other papers of 1853-1854 on the planning and preparation of the expedition including letters of Charles Sturt, 1853-1854; notes and correspondence on negotiations with the Government and the City Merchants Committee; correspondence on the reimbursment of Ernest Haug of money spent in preparation of the expedition, Feb-Aug 1854; correspondence on personnel, plans and purpose of the expedition, 1853-1854 and press cuttings, 1854.

Papers of Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, 1894-1906, comprise two journals describing expeditions to Somaliland in 1894 and 1898-1899; the folder contains correspondence on the later journey; two journals describing visits to Persian Gulf sites and routes into the interior of Oman (1902-1907).

Professor Robert Edward Dickinson's field diaries from America, 1931-1965 and Europe, 1931-1976.

Papers of Capt Robert Falcon Scott including carbon copy of diary as leader of British Antarctic Expedition, Jan-Oct 1911; letters from Scott to Major L Darwin, 16 Sep 1909, Mr Moro, 28 Sep 1909, and Sir Edgar Speyer, 10 Dec 1910; collection of news cuttings, Feb 1913; 56 letters from Scott to the Royal Geographical Society, 1886-1910, chiefly relating to the National Antarctic and British Antarctic Expeditions; letters from wife and family, some written after Scott's death; notebook kept by J W Lovibond recording hair, eye and skin colour of members of the National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904; letter from Norman Meikle telling of meeting many of the officers and crew of both Antarctic expeditions and an account of sending the cable to announce Scott's death, 23 Feb 1970; printed speech of Pubic Orator, Cambridge, 1905; slip of paper bearing Scott's signature; photostats of letters from Scott to Kathleen O'Reilly, 1899-1907; Order of Service for Altar Presentation from a church in Lyttelton New Zealand (at which Scott and other Antarctic parties worshipped) to the Scott Base, Antarctica, 6 May 1980; photo of the menu card of the Savage Club Dinner to Capt Scott, 5 Nov 1904 and plans of a polar camp, 1912.

Scientific and other papers sent to the Royal Society, presented at meetings of Fellows, or commissioned by the Society. They form a complementary series to the Early Letters, both of which were superseded by the Letters and Papers. Many of these items, referred to as the 'Guard Books', are duplicated in the Register Book of the Society. The classification is a simplified form of the 'Philosophical Transactions' abridgment by John Lowthorp. This arrangement was completed in 1741 by Thomas Birch. The majority of the papers in these volumes are manuscript, but a few printed documents occur throughout the series. Some of the papers are earlier in date than the grant on 15 July 1662 of the First Charter to the Society. The Committee of Trades seems to have been associated with the earlier meetings of those philosophers who subsequently became Fellows, and produced a number of practical papers, some of which were written in 1639 and which are mostly found in Volume 3(i). There are still earlier documents, mostly in Volume 25, which may have been included in the gift, in 1667, of the Arundel Library.

Papers of Sir Ranulph Fiennes relating to the Trans Globe expedition of 1979-1982 including stores book containing planned sledge loads, plans for huts and lists of stores; photographs, including of polar training camp and the expedition ship 'Benjamin Bowring'; plan of sledge loads; photocopy of personal navigation notebook; Nautical Almanac, 1980 and 1982; maps including the planning map for the North West passage, map of Arctic showing route towards North Pole on preliminary expedition in 1977, and map used for the Antarctic crossing; typescript of To the Ends of the Earth by Fiennes and press cuttings.

Papers of Sir George Back, 1814-1878, including c. 250 letters addressed to Sir George Back by various correspondents (listed by name), 1848-1878; personal letters from Back to his family, 1813-1878; photocopies of extracts from Back's sketchbook and slides of his sketches from 1819-1822 expedition to Arctic; passports and framed letter with sketches of polar bear, 1874.

Papers of Paul Belloni du Chaillu, 1864, comprise route notes, astronomical observations and calculations, Gabon, 1864; letter from Acra, 25 Aug 1863 and letter from Fernand-Vaz, 7 April 1864 reporting on journey to, and residence on, Fernand-Vaz river and library MSS letters, chiefly of a personal nature, to Sir George Black during the years 1848-1878.

Papers of Bouverie F Clark, 1882, comprise a report on a visit to Easter Island and to Sala-y-Gomez Island, June 1882, in HMS SAPPHO, with a watercolour sketch, by Captain F P Doughty, of images on the slopes of Mount Topaz, Easter Island.

Papers of J M Clayton, 1910-1911, comprise a diary (not complete) of journey to Addis Ababa, 1910-1911; report and route report on the Anuak country; notes on routes from Addis to Dire Dawa; sketch maps of the Aronsie country and Lake Hora Abiata.

Papers of James Cook, 1774-1971, comprise a photograph of a letter to Captain John Walter of Whitby, 13 Sept 1774, describing his discoveries in the South Seas; photocopy of accounts for food purchased, headed 'Captain Cook on board the Resolution at Long Reach', June 8 1776 and correspondence, 1899-1937, relating to the Tahiti Memorial to Captain Cook.

Papers of Vero Louis Bosazza, 1942-1980, comprise papers relating to his work as a geoglogist and include 'The identification of Daka na Moio island in the Shire river', 1969; 'Notes on the journal of Thomas Baines... April 3rd to September 17th 1858', 1970; 'Dr Livingstone's geological description omitted from the published version of Livingstone's African Journals, 1853-1856' (annotated transcipt, prepared from the original held by the National Archives of Rhodesia, 1973); 'David Livingstone, pilot and navigator', 1972 (two vols, typescript, fully annotated, maps, diagrams, tables, photographs and bibliography); 'The magnetic variations along the east coast of Africa, 1822-1969', 1972; ' Discussion on David Livingstone: a Mid-Victorian scientist by Dr D J Siddle', 1974; 'The Pioneer surveys in the Zambesi and Shire valleys and the mapping of Malawi', 1974; 'David Livingstone and his modern critics', 1975 (illustrated with maps, diagrams and photographs); 'Thomas Baines on the Zambesi', 1975. (Illustrated with maps and photograpghs); edited transcripts of: Antonio Jozi's 'Narrative of the proceedings of a small party ... July 1823 ... to explore the course of the river Zambesi' (Archives Library MSS.); and a letter from Thomas Maclear to David Livingstone, 11 July 1865 (Archives Special Collections: David Livingstone), 1976. Papers relating to southern Africa including: 'The Rev Robert Moffat's sextant', 1978; 'The grave of Herbert Rhodes on the Shire river, Malawi'; 1978.

Seven manuscript notebooks compiled by student at King's College London, Kathleen Williams, 1936-1939; comprising: botanical notes in a ring binder with drawings and sketches of toadstools, flowers and seeds, 1936; notebook on crystals and crystalline rocks showing drawings of crystals through a microscope and rock strata, 1936; notebook on types of rocks with colour sketches of microscopy, 1937; notebook with sketches, of fossils, sponges and seashells, 1937; geography field trip book on an expedition to Herne Bay, Torquay and elsewhere, with sketches of rocks and landscapes, 1937; geography field book showing expeditions to Helmsley, Yorkshire, Dorking, Surrey, Windsor, Berkshire and elsewhere, with sketches of rock strata and landscapes, 1938-1939; geography field book, Helmsley, Yorkshire, with photographs and hand-drawn maps showing topographical features, 1938-1939.

Papers of David Linton, comprising:
Notebooks and loose sheets of notes, [1926-1971], containing geographical and geological field notes on land formation in Great Britain and other regions, including Canada, 1952, United States of America, 1952 & 1965, Antarctica, 1958, South America, 1959, Scandinavia, 1960, and South Africa, 1967; assorted photographs, [1960-1969]; obituary, 1971.

Papers Verney Lovett Cameron, 1872-1886, relate to the Livingstone Relief Expedition of 1873 and notably include: account books from 1872; correspondence about the preparation and progress of the Expedition, 1873-1875; a diary for October - December 1874; correspondence on funding the exhibition 1873-1881.

William Harvey Hooper's journals as purser on HMS ALEXANDER, HMS HECLA, and HMS FURY, 1818-1825, and extracts from meteorological observations, on the John Ross and W E Parry expeditions in search of the Northwest Passage.

Notebooks of Col Walter Hugh Jerrery containing rough notes, routes and daily entries on the journeys: Hong Kong to Miao Feng, 1902-1903; Bhamo (upper Burma) to Shanghai, 1905-1906 and various short expeditions from Sadiya in Assam, 1911-1912. Also passport in Chinese.

Papers of Walter Mersh Strong, 1905-1906, comprising notes on secondary positions, notebook containing maps, language notes, bearings and positions, Mafulu to Kambodi, New Guinea, 1905 and two mapping books, New Guinea, 1905-1906.

Papers of William Singer Barclay, 1901-1918, comprise diaries, 1901-1918, of residence and travel in Uruguay, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina Ecuador and Colombia; reports on the Misiones region, 1904-1907 and miscellaneous notes and news cuttings from a variety of sources concerning South America.

Papers of Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, 1946-1994, including lists of fossils, rocks and minerals collected in Arabia, 1947; copies of letters from Thesiger to various correspondents; route notebook from Kachu to Jalalabad, Nuristan, 28 Jul-4 Sep 1956; meteorological observations Rub al Khali, Arabia, 1947; tabulated traverse by draftsman for the 1949 expedition from Muwaiqih; loose notes and notebooks, 1947-1948; seating plan for Thesiger's 80th birthday dinner at the Royal Geographical Society, 6 Jun 1990; transcript of an interview with Thesiger for a Channel 4 television documentary, Heart of a Nomad, Aug 1994; appendices to an article by Thesiger, 'A New Journey in Southern Arabia' published in The Geographical Journal, Vol. 108, No. 4/6 (Oct-Dec, 1946), pp 129-145 and envelope containing notes of payments for camels and servants, South Arabia.

Images by Walter Waller May including twelve lithographs from drawings made by May on board HMS ASSISTANCE on a Franklin Search Expedition, 1852 and a watercolour, 'Beechey Island' 1852.

Papers relating to the Ministry of Agriculture's Departmental Committee of Inquiry into Statutory Smallholdings, 1964-1967, collected by Michael Wise, including papers relating to the appointment of the Committee; papers circulated to members of the Committee by the Secretary; papers prepared by Committee members; written and oral evidence submitted to the Committee by a variety of organisations and individuals; papers written by the Committee commenting on evidence submitted to them; papers relating to the Committee's visits to local authority and Land Settlement Association smallholdings estates around England and Wales; maps and slides relating to the Committee's investigations; copies of legislation relating to smallholdings; pamphlets and other publications relating to smallholdings; press cuttings relating to the Committee's reports. Most of the papers are either carbon or typescript copies, rather than original documents.

Subjects covered include the origins of smallholdings policy; smallholdings legislation; the financial position of smallholdings authorities; the management costs of smallholdings estates; the social and economic position of smallholders; the geographical distribution of smallholdings estates.

Correspondence and papers, 1834-1950s, of and relating to David Livingstone, composed of three sub-collections.

Official London Missionary Society (LMS) papers of and relating to Livingstone, 1834-1872, largely comprise a series of over 100 original letters from Livingstone to his friends and to the LMS in connection with his work as an LMS missionary, mostly from southern Africa, the bulk dating from the 1840s and 1850s, and also include letters between other correspondents and miscellaneous other documents relating to Livingstone; 15 letters, 1852-1855, of Mary Livingstone (née Moffat), probably mostly directed to LMS officials, with typescript copies.

The LMS reference collection on Livingstone comprises typescript and manuscript copies of the LMS Livingstone letters; original letters relating to Livingstone, 1845, 1850; copies of other letters and documents by or relating to Livingstone, 1841-1881, held elsewhere, including a later copy of Livingstone's answers to LMS questions on becoming a missionary (1838); photocopy of Livingstone's Bechuana journal, 1853; two microfilms of materials on Robert and Mary Moffat and Livingstone; papers relating to Livingstone, 1850s-1950s, collected by the LMS, including copies of further LMS documents relating to him, typescripts, press cuttings and printed material on his life and fame and places associated with him.

The Bruce Livingstone collection comprises original letters, largely from Livingstone to Robert Moffat, 1844-1857, and photocopies of four letters, 1847-1853, from David Livingstone to Charles Livingstone.