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Letters to Thomas Young from Messrs Arago, Biot, Bessel and Bergelius.

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.

Diplomas and other honours given by various academies and societies to William Hyde Wollaston.

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.

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

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.

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'.

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

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

Original observations of levels by the Thames Levelling Commission, 1830 .

'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.

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'.

1. Statii Thebais, cum glossis interlinearibus et scholis marginalibus. folio 1, recto

2. Nota de tempore Statii folio 122 verso

Incip. 'Queritur quo tempore Staciu,s'

Desin. 'Titus et Domitianus sibi caveant'

In the front is written; 'Liber Regalis Societatis London. ex dono RVD Nathaniel Vincent, DD Feb. 1, 1692/3'

Written in England. Erased inscription at foot of folio 1. The figure or letter 'x' at the head of folio 1 may be a pressmark.

Drawings from Richard Spruce's travels across Northern South America, primarily the Amazon and Orinoco river systems, throughout Brazil, Peru, Columbia, Venezeuela and the Guyana highlands. Included are several renderings of indigenous picture-writing figures Spruce found in the Guyana Highlands, with notes on their possible origin and meaning, portraits of local people from nine different nations of the Orinoco and Rio Negro with notes thereon, drawings of notable landscapes in the region, vegetation and sundry objects from local villages.
Drawn on for 'Notes of a botanist on the Amazon and Andes' (1908).

Papers collected by Sir Robert Southwell.

Sir Robert Southwell's Lecture on water at the Royal Society, 8 Apr 1675.

'The Marine Atlas. A New Invention for the Preservation of Ships and Security of Mariners. Humbly offered to the Public in its unfinished state, as an Excitement to Industry and Ingenuity', by Thomas South, dedicated to Dr Blagden, Secretary to the Royal Society, 12 December 1786. There are documents at the end of this volume proving that the author had a claim to the prior invention of a material for making flexible air vessels, as applicable to nautical purposes. A French memoir on the same subject, as well as a specimen of the material, are inserted.

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

Correspondence of William Sherard in five volumes, indicating his wide circle of correspondents and showing his generosity in gifts of specimens, seeds, living plants, books and subscriptions. One volume consists of copies of letters from Sherard during his time as Turkey Company's Consul at Smyrna. The great majority of these letters are concerned with botanical subjects: a fair number relate to Greek and Roman coins: a very few are of an official character, and there are some addressed to James Sherard, William's younger brother. There are also many rough drafts of William Sherard's own letters included.

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

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'.

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

Manuscript Journal Geographical Magnetical and Meteorological made by Captain Edward Sabine during Ross's Arctic Voyage in 1818.

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.

Researches in Solar Physics by Warren de la Rue FRS, Balfour Stewart FRS and B Loewry.

Minutes of Visitations of the Royal Observatory Greenwich, together with relevant extracts from the Minutes of the Council of the Royal Society.

Log of the Proceedings on board HMS Fury on a voyage for the discovery of the North West Passage kept by James Clark Ross, 21 Jan 1824-5 Oct 1825.

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'.

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.

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.

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

'The extraordinary history of a new method of inoculating discovered in the kingdom of England', by Alexander Pearson.

Memorials of the Lives of the Right Reverend Father in God, Matthew Wren DD Lord Bishop of Ely, Christopher Wren DD Dean of Windsor, and Sir Christopher Wren, Knight, Surveyor-General of the Royal Buildings by CW, July 1741.

Observations for ascertaining the distances across the English Channel made by direction of the French and English Governments, bearing the signatures of François Arago, Henry Kater and Thomas Colby.

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'.

An extensive collection of photographs and drawings of the after-effects of the Neapolitan earthquake of 1857, collected by Robert Mallet (FRS 1854) including 120 stereoscopic cards by Alphonse Bernoud and 36 individual studies by C V Grillet.

Letters from Sir Robert Moray to his friend Alexander Bruce, Earl of Kincardine, 1657-1673. Also known as 'The Kincardine Papers'. Bruce was sick of the ague in Bremen for part of this time, and the letters were written to alleviate the tedium of his illness, hence ranging over topics which might not otherwise have been the subjects of correspondence. They include accounts of chemical experiments in his laboratory, his interest in magnetism, medicine in all its aspects, horticulture, fuel, whale fishing, its risks and profits, coal mining, water wheels and tide mills, stone quarrying and the various qualities of different stones, the pumping works needed for undersea coal mines at Bruce's home at Culross in Fifeshire, even to the trees whose wood was best for pipelines, and the diameter of the bore best suited to the purpose. Familiarity is shown with mathematical and surveying instruments, with music, and all sorts of mechanical devices and especially clocks and watches, more particularly the taking out of a patent in respect of a clock for use at sea for finding longitude. Bruce is advised on the choice of books over a wide range of subjects. Moray includes anecdotes to amuse his ailing correspondent; he describes his quiet life and is enthusiastic about many of his chemical experiments. Notable at the end of the letters Moray added what he described as his Masonic signature - a pentagram which also occurs in his crest.

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.

Mathematical works of Pappus Alexandrinus, stated by JO Halliwell that this was copied from Savilian MS number 9 for William Jones the mathematician.

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.

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.

A sixteenth century manuscript which includes:

1. The order for the king's suite

2. The order of the kinges going to the chappell on Sherethursdaie, and from thence into the hall

3. The book showing what appertains to the offices of the king's chamberlains, vice chamberlains, and ushers

4. The order for the banquet at Greenwich on St Thomas's day, 9 Henry VIII, and other similar matters. Includes a diagram.

Report to the Royal Society of London of the expedition into the interior of the Kingdom of Naples to investigate the circumstances of the Earthquake of December 1857, by Robert Mallet, CE, FRS.

Operations connected with the Levellings carried across the Isthmus of Panama by John Augustus Lloyd, c 1830.

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.

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.

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.

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

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