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.

These papers show Davy's first ideas for an electric telegraph from his early sketches in 1836 of a frictional electric telegraph to one worked by electromagentism which he developed 1836-1839. His first patent was lodged in 1837 in opposition to Cooke and Wheatstone's first patent. The papers indicate his efforts to find a purchaser for the patent rights and to establish a company to develop the telegraph. He made agreements with several business men but none of these arrangements bore any fruit. He also negotiated with the railway companies and demonstrated the telegraph for them. The papers record the efforts of his father, Thomas Davy, and several others, to continue Davy's negotiations with the railway companies and the arrangements which were made to re-exhibit a working model of the telegraph. The papers also relate to the sale of the patent to the Electric Telegraph Company in 1847. Fahie's memoir on Davy is included in the papers.

Copies of the letters of Erasmus Darwin transcribed from original manuscripts or photocopied from published versions by Desmond George King-Hele.

Papers of Sir Henry Hallett Dale include three photographs of Sir Henry Hallett Dale; correspondence and papers to and from various recipients, relating to topics such as lectures, students and meetings at the Royal Institution of Great Britain (RI), 1942-1945; correspondence and papers to and from various recipients, relating to topics such as apparatus for the Davy Faraday Research Laboratory at the RI, 1945-1946; volume containing various aspects of RI accounts such as petty cash and catering supplies, some correspondence is also included, 1943-1965.

Letter from the Countess Vernède de Corneillan of 46 (ancien) rue de Rivoli au coin de la rue Castiglione, Paris to [Charles] Babbage, 10 Sep 1854. 'Monsieur Babbage m'a fait passer la lettre que vous avez eu la bonté de lui écrire au sujet d'inventions de M. [Philippe] de Girard … Je prends la liberté de vous récrire a çe sujet, car cette affaire est d'une haute gravité pour notre famille … Vous dites …que le "moyens de M. de Girard sont ingénieux mais que le même effet a été produit par des moyens plus simples, et tellement analogues qu'il me serait difficile de prendre un brevet"'. Saying that if this sentence concerns 'les greniers à blé', she would like to ask certain questions: (i) whether the process analogous to that of Girard is patented in England; (ii) under what name; (iii) at what date and since when; (iv) what are the differences that make it simpler and what are the things analogous to it? Excuses her importunity on the grounds of the matter's important to the memory of her uncle.

Autograph, with signature.

Personal and business correpondence of William Fothergill Cooke, mostly relating to his dispute with Charles Wheatstone, together with legal documents (copies and originals) connected with the case, in 7 bound volumes. Comprising personal correspondence, mainly to Cooke's mother relating to his hopes and expectations of the telegraph. The correspondence is mainly 1836-1841 with fewer letters for 1843, 1844, 1860, 1868, 1869, 1875, 1879 and 1880. There is also correspondence with Latimer Clark both before and after Cooke's death concerning a history of British Telegraphy and a life of Sir William Fothergill Cooke. Copies of this some of this correspondence can be found in Volume VII, and these are easier to read than the extensively crossed originals; Correspondence relating to railway companies, arbitration, and creation of the Electric Telegraph Company. The correspondence also shows the causes of the breakdown of his partnership with Wheatstone, the arbitration process and subsequent agreement to purchase Wheatstone's royalties in the shares; Correspondence between Mr Robert Wilson, solicitor acting for William Fothergill Cooke, and William Richardson, solicitor acting for Professor Wheatstone, relating to the arbitration between Cooke and Wheatstone, frequently concerning sending of drafts of agreement, with amendments, and with arranging appointments for arbitrators, and witnesses for the arbitration; Papers concerned with the arbitration between Cooke and Wheatstone, including bound copies of agreements and articles referred to in the arbitration; Papers submitted to the Arbitrators, Sir Marc Isambard Brunel and John Frederic Daniell in 1841, mainly copies of evidence. They represent Cooke and Wheatstone's cases, and the Arbitrators' decision, with one later patent granted to Sir William Fothergill Cooke. There are also some poems about Autralia or the Central World and Neptune at the end of the volume; Papers concerning assignment by Wheatstone of all royalties and shares to Cooke, including extracts of letters and transfers and assignments of inventions, rights in patents and shares separating Wheatstone and Cooke's business affairs; Copies of letters, mainly from Volume I of the collection made by George Bristow of the successor firm to Wilson and Harrison with the idea of publishing them on the 50th anniversary of the first Patent for the Electric Telegraph. The Volume contains copies of three letters between Bristow and Latimer Clark, and copies of extracts of other letters. Several letters were cut out for publication in 1893. There are also some notes made by a clerk at Bristow's concerning the other original material and its whereabouts, and also references to 'The Electric Telegraph: Was It Invented by Professor Wheatstone?' in two volumes by Sir W F Cooke, 1856-1857. The copies are easier to read than the extensively crossed originals.

Letter from Ernest Clarke of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 13 Hanover Square, London to [Herbert Somerton] Foxwell, 29 Jul 1897. Mainly discussing the 17th-century writer Samuel Hartlib.

Autograph, with signature.

Papers of Patricia Hannah Clarke, 1963-2003, comprising biographical material including autobiographical material compiled for Clarke's personal record as a Fellow of the Royal Society; curriculum vitae; video of an interview for the Biochemical Society; papers relating to Deer Park School, Cirencester of which Clarke was a Governor, 1988-1999 and correspondence with local and national politicians on education, tobacco advertising and asylum seekers.

Papers relating to Clarke's interest in the historical contribution of women scientists and her concern in encouraging women scientists. Includes, correspondence, notes, printed reports and photocopied material used for a number of activities including her lecture 'Women in Science at University College, 1878-1978', 1992; Royal Society meeting on 'Women in Science and Technology: opportunities for change?', 28 May 1993; papers relating to Clarke's service on the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering and Technology and a meeting on Women in Science at the Royal Society, 27 Mar 2001.

Publications including an incomplete set of offprints of Clarke's works; papers relating to her biographical memoirs of Roger Yate Stanier and Michael Douglas Lilly and her entry for Muriel Robertson for the New Dictionary of National Biography; lecture material including for Clarke's Royal Society Leeuwenhoek Lecture 'Experiments in microbial evolution: new enzymes, new metabolic activities', 1979, and the 19th J D Bernal Lecture, 'New directions in biology: basic science and biotechnology', delivered at Birkbeck College London, 1988.

Papers relating to eight UK and overseas societies and organisations, 1975-2001, including the British National Bibliographical Research Fund, the Royal Society, the Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia and the Research Grants Council, Hong Kong.

Papers relating to Clarke's visits and conferences, 1971-1998, including visits to the Far East including Singapore, Malaysia, China and Hong Kong and meetings marking the centenary of the birth of J B S Haldane, 1992.

Correspondence, including with researchers at University College London, colleagues in the UK and scientists in the USA and Europe. Correspondents include R E Drew, B W Holloway, S Brenner; H L Kornberg, R D Sager and R Y Stanier.

'Records and recollections' by Arthur Herbert Church, published in Gloucester: John Bellows 1940. Number 4 of 40 copies with 4 photographs and obituaries.

The boxes contain notebooks and papers, 1895-1947, mainly on the history of science and technology, with special reference to China.

Papers of John Canton.

Correspondence, comprising a private letter book 1863-1867, and correspondence and reports relating to the laying of the West Indies cable 1869-1870. The private letter book contains bound letters refering to cable laying in India, the West Indies and Brazil, resistance testing to find faults on cables in a long letter to Fleeming Jenkin, mining companies with which Bright was involved, the Steam Engine Improvement Company and the Railway Lubricating Company. The volume contains many blank pages and some pages have been cut out. Some letters are illegible because of the very faint copy, and there appears to be a double impression on some pages suggesting that a second letter may have been copied onto the same page. The loose correspondence relates to the setting up of the West India and Panama Telegraph Company and includes reports and correspondence concerning the laying of the cable. Some of the papers were used in a court case in 1872 between the West India and Panama Telegraph Company and the India Rubber Company for failing in their contractual obligations.

The correspondence, papers and diaries of Sir Charles Blagden. Blagden's papers are interesting on several levels, generally for his close contact with European men of learning, and his relationship with Sir Joseph Banks. Blagden's professional researches are represented by medical notes in the boxed sequence. These are grouped with papers on other subject interests, including linguistics, e.g. a draft Tahitian-English dictionary, compiled from conversations with Omai, whom Blagden inoculated after Omai's voyage to England with James Cook. Blagden's interest in antiquities and travel is documented by diary entries, as is his intercourse with fellow scientists, particularly those associated with the founding of the Royal Institution.

The papers are extensive, relating to almost every aspect of Blackett's career in science and public life. There is biographical and personal material including large numbers of letters of congratulation received on the occasion of the various scientific and public awards and honours with which Blackett's achievements were recognised. There are records of his work on particle disintegration, cosmic rays, astrophysics and magnetism in the form of laboratory notebooks, working papers, correspondence, lectures, publications and broadcasts. There is documentation of his activities on various defence projects and as a member of government committees before, during and after the Second World War. Blackett's political interests are represented by material relating to the Association of Scientific Workers, Labour Party discussion groups on science and technology policy and the Ministry of Technology instituted after the Party's 1964 electoral victory. There are records of a wide range of science-related interests such as the history of science and technology, science, education and government, and nuclear weapons and disarmament, and of his overseas activities including material relating specifically to India and that concerned with matters more generally affecting developing countries.

A few lacunae in the surviving material have been identified. There are no documents relative to Blackett's service with the National Research and Development Corporation or the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and, of his correspondence during the Second World War, only that for 1942 survives.

A collection of letters from Jean-Baptiste Biot and his grandson-in-law F Lefort, to Augustus De Morgan,1855-1863. Including related papers. Many of the letters refer to an article by Biot on Sir Isaac Newton in the Biographie Universelle.

Apollonii Conica methodo nova illustrata et succincte demonstrata per Isaacum Barrow, continet hoc volumen archetypon integrum editionis Londini 1675, in forma quarta, impressa.

Letter from Charles Babbage of Dorset Street, Manchester Square, [London] to an unknown recipient, 8 Nov 1850. Giving directions for meeting Babbage on Wednesday at 7 o'clock. Autograph, with signature. Last leaf only of a letter written on several sheets.

Letter from Charles Babbage of Dorset Street, Manchester Square, [London] to M Sylvain van de Weyer [Belgian ambassador in London], 29 May 1837. Presenting a copy of his book 'The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise'. Autograph, with signature.

Papers concerning Jean Anisson and his improvements in printing including a memorandum by Anisson on his new press; an extract from the register of the Academie Royale des Sciences and another memorandum by Anisson, 1783.