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Papers by, about or belonging to the Fellows of the Royal Society, and acquired by donation or purchase from outside sources. Large diverse series of papers intended to encompass all collections of documents which were not generated by the organization, but which were donated, purchased or otherwise acquired from outside sources. The series therefore contains all manner of papers by, about, or belonging to Fellows of the Royal Society. The subject matter is as diverse as the interests of the Fellows, and covers all branches of the sciences, including some non-scientific material. Generally, the Manuscripts are Western in origin. Also includes some records generated by the Society itself but added to the collection when considered unsuitable for existing categories.

Copy letters and notes by Henry Oldenburg, first Secretary of the Royal Society, prefaced by a note on the volume's presentation by James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton.

A volume of various alchemical tracts, by Philippe Rouillach and others. Notebook of Robert Boyle. 17. 'Preservatif apologetique' pour le meme. Folio 381, recto.

Mercantile Papers of Dr William Sherard, also known as Sherard Additional Letters.

A volume of botanical paintings, many of which have been used in the botanical works of John Martyn, especially in his 'Historia Plantarum Rariorum'.

'Libro varissimo del Conte Guido di materia fisiche e mathematiche' A volume of alchemical tracts. Items 7, 9, 18, part of 19 and 23 are all in one hand; items 11 to 15 are in another; the remainder are in various hands. Most of the items appear to date from the early or middle 17th century, to judge by the hands, though the matter is in most cases probably much older.

Astronomical observations at Paramatta, New South Wales.

Eclipses 1882-2000: Rough projections of eclipses of the sun and moon by Samuel J. Johnson, includes a letter from the author dated 25 March 1882 written at Melplash Vicarage Bridport.

Reports of 11 lectures on chemistry and 3 on electricity by Henry Dicks, with nine original letters and newspaper cuttings.

'Tables of Specific Gravities extracted from various Authors with Notes. To which is prefixed a Critic on the Authors of these Experiments' compiled by Richard Davies.

A collection of eighteenth century letters and papers of Sir Joseph Banks, his family and other contemporary Fellows.

Papers relating to the proposal of Zachariah Williams for the revealing a secret of a machine invented by him, to be used at sea for making salt-water fresh and drinkable, together with the inventor's letter to the Lords of the Admiralty on the subject.

Six papers or memoirs by Captain Edward Sabine, written chiefly during the progress of the voyage of discovery of the Isabella in the year 1818.

A description of certain specimens of birds inhabiting the Hudson's Bay Company's Territories with remarks on the meteorology of the same place by Humphrey Martin, 1772.

Works on botanical classification [by Nathaniel Matthew Wolf] in two parts comprising 1. 'Tentamen botanicae characteristicae sistens genera plantarum perfectiorum' , pp.1-117 and 2. 'Article d'une leavee de l'auteur, addressee a JHM, au sujet de sa botanique characteristique, pp.119-128.

Scrap book of drawings by Richard Waller attached is a report by Dr Christopher J Brooke entitled 'Avebury - Multispectral Photographic Examination of manuscript drawing in pencil by John Aubrey' made 23 February 1989 referring to MS/131/67.

Original Drawings of the Rotifera by Charles Thomas Hudson.

Notes on John Canton's pneumatical experiments, together with some rough minutes of the Canton Committee.

Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton's Life by William Stukeley, 1752, bound in at the back is the following printed tract 'The life of Sir Isaac Newton with an Account of his Writings. London. J. Roberts, Oxford Arms in Warwick Lane, 1728'.

Incip. 'Igitur ex quatuor elementis'
Desin 'Et hoc est qod ostendimus. Explicit'
Folios 1-9 [Mundus] igitur ex quatuor elementis isdemque totis in spere modum globatis.... retrogradari facit.
Part of book 8, 'De astronomia' of Martinus Capella, 'De nuptiis.'

Folios 9 verso - 49 verso (Text) Vnitas est esse rei per se discrecio...omnis numerus minor maioris aut est pars aut partes....medios assignare sit possibile.
(Commentary) Aut enim minor numerat maiorem....et hoc est qod ostenimus. Explicit.

Jordanus Nemorariius, 'De Arithmetica' printed several times but with a different commentary. Printed marginalia eg in folio 24, in a hand which occurs also in MS/28.

Paper for reading before the Royal Society by an unknown author entitled, 'Nouvelles Recherches pour determiner les Longitudes en Mer par les Mouvements de la Lune et par une seule Observation'.

Paper for reading before the Royal Society by an unknown author entitled 'Nouvelle Theorie du mouvement des Planets et des Cometes'.

Paper for reading before the Royal Society entitled 'Theora Magnetis explicata e sola virium attractivarum universalium natura, elaborata per Franciscum Intze.....Claudiopoli Transylvaniae MDCCCXXV'.

Fundata duarum Lecturarum in Disciplinis Mathematicis Per Henricum Savile, Collegii Metonensis Custodem. Publicata et Confirmata in Venerabili Domo Convocationis, 11 Aug 1619.

Four satires by George Minchin Minchin entitled: 1. Another Voyage to Laputa and Balnibarbi; 2. How I wrote my Reminiscences; 3. The Last Days of Balnibarbi and

4. The Ruins of Bolbadlyon.

Some observations on the crystalline lens by C Harris, including numerous graphs, prepared for the Glassworkers Cataract Committee, but never used.

'Instruments of the Eskadlemuir Observatory', by A E Gendle with photographs and short descriptions interleaved.

'The Life of Confucius' by Louis Poirot, 'Avviso al Lettore' included as an inset.

Paper read at the Royal Society from 14 Feb to 6 Mar 1788 by John Ash entitled 'Observation and Experiments to investigate by Chemical Analysis the Medicinal Properties of the Mineral Waters of Spa and Aix la Chapelle in Germany and of the Waters and Boue at St Amand in French Flanders'.

'De ormesta mundi' by Orosius, some 16th century marginalia, Pauli Orosii Historiarum libri septem.

Documents relating to John Augustus Lloyd's paper on the difference of level of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans entitled 'Account of Levellings Carried across the Isthmus of Panama, to Ascertain the Relative Height of the Pacific Ocean at Panama and of the Atlantic at the Mouth of the River Chagres; Accompanied by Geographical and Topographical Notices of the Isthmus', 1830.

Two tracts relating to Confucius and Confucianism: Tract 1 'Ta Mio. Confucius philosophus totius imperii Sinensis Universalis Magtr', a translation of a Chinese original, by Johannes Rodriguez, 1763 and Tract 2 'Traduzione del Tciuntzui di Confuso fatta da Luigi de Poirot'.

Observations sur la Circulation du sang et l'organisation du vaisseau dorsal chez les Insectes, par M le Docteur Wagner d'Erlangen.

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

Two treatises and some loose papers of Isaac Barrow including:

1. Appollonii Pergaei Conicorum libri quatuor, juxta viam et methodum Petri Herigonii, per notas reales ac universales demonstrati

2. Archimedis de Sphaera et Cylindro. Per eundem

3. Between these two treatises are a few odd sheets.

Daily written observations and pencil sketches of volcanic activity, kept by Father Antonio Piaggi, July 1779-August 1794, on behalf of Sir William Hamilton, Piaggi was based at the Madonna Pugliano near Resina at the western side of Vesuvius on the Bay of Naples. With an additional volume dedicated to the major eruption of 1779, (originally volume 1 of the sequence). The volumes have occasional inserted material.

Manuscript of Isaac Barrow containing Archimedes' works on spheres and cylinders, on the dimensions of the circle, on spirals or helices and other topics.

Papers of Thomas Andrews including papers relating to his research which fell into four main fields;

(1) studies of acids and metals in electrolytic experiments; (Papers 6 to 11 and 32)

(2) the calorimetry of chemical reactions, in particular those between acids and bases, and between metals and halogens; (Papers 13 to 16, 18 to 22, 40 and the manuscripts printed as 52 and 53)

(3) the properties and constitution of ozone; (Papers 31, 33 to 35, 37 and 45)

(4) the condensation of gases to liquids at high pressures (Papers 36, 38, 41, 47, 49 and 50)

The eight volumes of manuscripts described as 'Notes of Experiments' at the Royal Society contain the laboratory records on which most of his work is based.

The contents are described as far as possible in Thomas's own words from the title pages of each Book. Where the title page is uninformative then suitable headings have been chosen from the body of the notes. These title pages may have been written much later than the experiments since in 1862 there is the phrase 'critical point' which he probably invented only for his Bakerian Lecture of 1869. Some experiments or paragraph numbers are displayed on the title page of each Book. Those that are not, but are listed only on the pages themselves, are shown at the right-hand end of each line. The numbering of the experiments is again erratic; for example 376 may be followed by 277.

The reading of the notes on the experiments on the liquefaction of gases in Volumes 7 and 8 is helped by comparing them with the analysis by C.G. Knott 'Andrews' measurements of the compression of carbon dioxide and of mixtures of carbon dioxide and nitrogen' (Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 30, 1-22, 290 [1909-1910])

Manuscript of a treatise on logic by John Wallis, 1685.

Papers of the Gregory family, volume one includes writings by Sir Isaac Newton, friend of David Gregorie, Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford, the volume is entitled 'Notae in Newtonii Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis' and his 'Theory of the Moon' which was incorporated in the 'Astronomia Physica' published by the Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford; volume two is a volume of letters and papers of the Gregory family, including some papers of Sir Isaac Newton; David Gregorie of Kinnairdie; James Gregorie author of 'Optica Promota'; David Gregorie, Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford; James Gregorie Professor of Mathematics at Edinburgh; and Charles Gregory, Professor of Mathematics at Edinburgh University.

Book containing the signatures of Presidents of the Royal Society and members of the Council, making solemn declarations to discharge their duties faithfully. This formality was necessary under the Act 4 and 5 William IV Cap 62.

Signatures of Fellows or their agents, showing them to have received their copies of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.

Letters and papers relating to the Cook Medal struck by the Royal Society in honour of Captain Cook.

Copies of papers read to the Royal Society about 1662-1664, in three hands: pages 1-164 in one hand (the hand of Robert Hooke); pages 165-193 in another; and pages 193 to end in a third.

The Journal of the Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Oxford, by William Musgrave, original journal in two volumes; transcribed from the original Minute Books in the Ashmolean Museum.

A Journal of a Voyage from Hull to Davis's Straits in the Ship Duncombe, 23 March to 11 December 1835, by William Scoffin 'Master by God's permission'.

Bibliography of the Effects of Very Low Temperatures upon the Properties of Metals between the years 1869-1933, prepared by Sir Robert Hadfield.

Copy of a diary kept by Edward Frankland from 1st January 1848 to 25 July 1849.

Reports by William Pengelly and Edward Vivian produced for the Kent's Cavern Committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, with some supporting correspondence.

Scrapbook of letters and other material collected by Caleb Burrell Rose including an anonymous photogenic drawing of two plants, mounted on paper with the title 'An early attempt of photography from Norwich'.