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Papers of Thomas Wilson, mid to late 18th century, comprising a volume containing notes by Wilson, of lectures given by John Hunter. Including notes on astronomical and mathematical topics, c 1854.

Notes of lectures delivered in Cambridge by Nicholas Sanderson. Subjects covered include hydrostatics, tides, sounds, optics, mechanics and astronomy.

'Leçons sur l'astronomie sphérique', illustrated by numerous pen-drawn diagrams and figures. The MS. is written with very wide margins, and contains the complete course of 54 lessons.

Papers of Professor William Cawthorne Unwin, 1856-1952, comprising correspondence, principally concerning engineering matters, 1856-1931, 1950,1952, notably with Edward Dean Adams, including the Niagra Falls Scheme, 1890-1929, Sir Benjamin Baker, including the Forth Bridge, dam schemes, 1882-1898, Sir William Fairbairn, including experiments, appointments, 1856-1874, Thomas Hardy, concerning astronomy, 1881, Imperial College, 1910-1926 (as representative of the Institution of Civil Engineers);
research papers, 1859-1924, notably Fay and Newall brakes, 1859, observations on the Thames, 1882-1883, Nile Project Committee, 1919, dam schemes, 1899-1905;
speeches and addresses to various institutions, including presidential addresses to the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1912, and Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1916; engineering drawings, 1875-1906, of apparatus, machinery, sections of the Thames, Telok Ayer key wall, Singapore; two portraits of Unwin, undated;
additional material, comprising papers relating to Windsor Water Works arbitration, 1884; reports on compression gauges, 1886-1887; Birmingham dams, 1895; notes on dam theory, 1905; papers relating to Stockport water supply and Kinder Dam, 1905; notes relating to schemes for Niagra and central London.

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.

Manuscript of a paper 'Astronomical Experiment on the Peak of Tenerife, carried out under the sanction of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. By Professor C. Piazzi Smyth. Communicated by G.B.Airy, Esq., Astronomer Royal' in 'Philosophical Transactions' Volume 148 (1858) pages 465-534. Folder of drawings and watercolours, including tipped-in stereoscopic cards. Received 2 June 1857, read 18 June 1857. Last two pages in the manuscript provide an explanatory account of the photographs, how they were taken and developed, and what materials were used.

The collection contains correspondence related to the theme 'Scholars and Learned Ladies', including letter from Anna Gurney to Sir William Hooker, c. 1850. Correspondence dealing with the election of Miss Mary A Blagg as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Extract from Professor Turner's introduction to Miss Blagg's 'Collated List of Lunar Formations'. Letters from Professor Turner. Letter from Frank Dyson. A short account of the life and work of Mary Blagg produced by her nieces, 1968. Correspondence in 1962 about the late Miss Pernel Strachey's typescript edition of the Emmanuel College manuscript. Admission of women Fellows to the Royal Society. Correspondence between Royal Society, Society for Women's Service, Mrs Hutton and Miss P Strachey, 1954. Correspondence between Lucy Norton, John Carter and Joan Bennett about some George Eliot letters and an article on them by Joan Bennett, 1968. Copy of a letter from Mrs Baines (Bedford College) to Miss Pernel Strachey about a tapestry for Newnham College, 1945. Letter from Myra Curtis (Newnham) to Pernel Strachey, 1945. Letter from Hertha Ayrton to Dr Gorthon, 1911. Autograph signatures of Margaret McNair Stokes, Mrs Agnata Frances Butle, Jane Ellen Harrison.

The collection consists of approximately 100 items on alchemy and early chemistry, the most notable item being De Secretis Mulierum. The collection also includes manuscripts of lectures given by Sir Henry Roscoe; his notes on solar chemistry work; letters written to him by a number of his peers and his notebook from 1849. The many volumes of letters in the collection includes correspondence with contemporaries such as Robert Bunsen, Michael Faraday, Dmitri Mendeleeff and Louis Pasteur as well as with a number of Presidents of the Chemical Society and the Royal Institute of Chemistry.

Papers of Francis Rodd, including typescript copies of journals and astronomical and hypsometric records on expeditions to Air and the southern Sahara, 1922 and 1927. Seven folders of notes and correspondence relating to the same expeditions: notes on the Sahara from authorities of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; journal of route in 1927, with geographical and meteorological notes; drawings, unused chapters of Rodd's book People of the veil; copies of rock drawings, drafts for book lectures; diary, 1927; correspondence concerning the planning and conclusion of the expedition; papers on special subjects arising out of the 1927 expedition including botanical, anthropological and archaeological; survey notes; notes on instruments and chronometer ratings and letters from Francis and Peter Rodd to their parents, May-Jun 1927.

Library Manuscripts comprise manuscript items donated to the Royal Geographical Society. They are chiefly single files or a small number of items which are not large enough to warrant forming a special collection. The papers include, astronomical and meteorological observations, diaries, correspondence, notes, conference papers, reports, articles, photographs, sketches and maps covering all aspects of geography and exploration across the globe and date from 1691 to 1994. Highlights include:

Memorandum on a map of South America, by John Arrowsmith.

Papers of Maj R A Bagnold, 1929-1933, comprising positions, routes and heights in Egypt and letters from Bagnold.

Letters from Sir John Barrow to Lord Melville, 1935-1945 and letters to Barrow from Murzuq, 1822 and J D Dundas, 1818.

Papers of Dr Heinrich Barth, 1846-1952, letters and copy of a sketch map of Timbuktu.

Notes on heights of mountains in America by Capt F W Beechey, 1826.

Letters from the King of Siam to Sir John Bowring, 1855.

Letters relating to the British Arctic Air Route Expedition, 1928-1932.

Correspondence and reports of the British Ornithologists' Union Expedition to New Guinea, 1908-1911.

Papers of G Wyman Bury, 1913-1918.

Papers of Capt R F M Crozier, 1836-1906.

Account of a journey to Lhasa and central Tibet by Sarat Chandra Das, 1902.

Papers of Lt James Barker Emery, chiefly relating to Mombassa, 1822-1835.

Plan and elevation of the Screw Yacht FRAM as reconstructed in 1898.

'Narrative of a small party of HMS LEVEN under command of Lt C W Browns sent to explore the Zambesi by one of the survivors, a native of Angola', by Antonio Jozi, 1823.

Journal of Joseph Kaye's voyage from London to Genoa.

Papers and maps relating to William Kennish's exploration in South America for a canal route.

Papers relating to the Kufara expedition led by H W C J Penderel and P A Clayton to Gilf Kebir, 1933.

Papers relating to the Livingstone Award, 1875-1970.

H B Molesworth's diary of a journey to Mokalla (Mukalla), 1893.

Letters from Sir John Morrison to Henry Dundas and others concerning Persia and trade with Persia, 1783-1792.

Narrative of a shipwreck on the southern shores of Arabia by B A R Nicholson, 1836.
Correspondence of Walter Oudney, 1821-1823.

Papers of Adm Sir W E Parry, relating to the Arctic, 1819-1823.

Papers relating to the Pitcairn Islands, 1831-1885.

Annotated 'Code of Naval Signals' belonging to Adm Sir Home Popham, 1799.

Letter from Sultan Husain Sufrari, 1708.

Account of explorations on the coast of Patagonia by B Villarino, 1782.

Travel journals of J Washington, chiefly in South America, 1822-1829.

Letters to A F R Wollaston, 1896-1926.

Observation files by Robert Lawrence Reid including two angle books, time book, astronomical observations and barometric readings, Anewimi region, 1905-1909. Journal MSS: 1902, 'Some explorations in Portuguese East Africa'.

Papers of Arthur Cowper Raynard, 1881, comprise a letter to Mrs [Sophia] De Morgan, widow of Augustus De Morgan, offering to lend her Professor Edward Singleton Holden's biography Sir William Herschel, his life and works (London, 1881).

Papers, 1835-c1975, of and relating to the Rev Thomas Pyne, comprising correspondence and accounts, 1839-1845 and undated, documenting Pyne's guardianship of (John) Ossoo Ansah and (William) Quanti Massah in England (1840), associated expenses, and aspects of their trip including invitations to dinner, entrance permits to London Zoo and to George Heriot's Hospital [School], Edinburgh, undated plan of a breakwater, Falmouth(?), undated print of Brighton Pavilion and other ephemera relating to places visited, photographs of paintings of the princes, and various visiting cards; other correspondence and papers of Pyne, 1835-1873 and undated, including printed Thanksgiving sermon preached at St Peter's Church, New York, including anti-slavery sentiments, 1835, pamphlets by Pyne on peace, 1844 and undated, and astronomy, 1852, a letter from L'Institut d'Afrique to Pyne concerning honorary membership, 1843, miscellaneous pamphlets relating to African affairs, and a photograph of Pyne, 1870; correspondence, notes, transcripts from original documents, and other papers, 1950-1953, c1975 and undated, concerning Pyne and his papers, and the two princes, including their portraits.

Letter from Charles Pritchard of 17 Westcliff Terrace, Ramsgate, [Kent] to [Augustus De Morgan], 21 Jul 1860. Referring to Pritchard's Calculations of the three Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn in B.C. 7 B.C. 66 and A.D. 54, in which he showed the inadmissibility of Ideler's identification of one of them with the star of the Magi.

Autograph, with signature.

Records of the Department of Physics of Imperial College, 1882-1985, including a departmental history from 1851-1960; papers relating to courses, 1885-1982, including course syllabus, 1885, 1903, 1928; laboratory experiment papers, 1982; research on uranium, 1940-1941; laboratory notes, 1895; papers relating to a departmental photograph, [1893]; lecture notes, 1892;
correspondence, including with the adminstration department, of Professor Hugh Longbourne Callendar, 1908-1929; Professor Robert John Strutt, 1908-1920; Professor Alfred Fowler, 1910-1924; Professor Frederic John Cheshire, 1917-1925; Professor Louis Claude Martin, 1917-1950; Professor Alexander Oliver Rankine, 1927-1937; relating to photography, 1945-1951; Rectors' correspondence, 1955-1980; purchase of equipment, 1965-1974; examination papers, 1933-1969; inventories of apparatus, 1947-1969; students' newspapers, 1985;

papers relating to Astronomical Physics, including reports of the Solar Physics Committee, 1882-1911; demonstrations and practical work, 1889-1931; Spectroscopic laboratory record, 1906-1936, equipment, 1912; examinations notebook, 1883-1921; Astronomical laboratory visitors' book, 1907-1914 (KPA);

correspondence of Professor Herbert Dingle, 1928-1944, principally relating to the acquistion of a spectrograph (KPAB); correspondence of Reginald William Blake Pearse, 1931-1950 (KPAC); papers written by Sir William de Wiveslie Abney (printed), 1874-1917 (KPC);

course booklet for Atmospheric Physics, [1977] (KPM); papers of the Applied Optics Section, including correspondence, 1912-1918; minutes and correspondence of the Technical Optics (later Applied Optics) Committee, 1918-1974; papers relating to events, including open day, 1961; Jubilee celebrations, 1968; 60th anniversary celebrations, 1978; general papers, 1943-1979 (KPT); inventory of apparatus, 1917-1960 (KPTA).

Observation file of Capt Temple Leighton Phipson-Wybrants, Mozambique, 1880, comprising many pages of astronomical observations and calculations to establish latitude or logitude; some simple sketch maps of various locations; some references to Mr Coles' 'training instructions in the use of instruments, mapping, etc.'

Notes on astronomy, 1888-1903. The date 1905 occurs on p. 173, and the eclipse of that year is mentioned on p. 1214: on p. 1213 the year 1910 is spoken of in the future tense.

This class contains thirty-two volumes relating to the theory of navigation, mathematics and astronomy, fifteenth to nineteenth centuries. The earliest is Italian, written between 1470 and 1529, entitled 'Ragioni Antique Spettanti all Arte del Mare et Fabriche de Vaselli', which includes entries in many hands on navigational calculations, astronomy, astrology, sailing directions for the Mediterranean and the building and fitting of galleys. Chronologically, the next volume is the 'Regimento de la Declinacion del Sol', a Spanish navigator's manual, c 1500; the next is English, containing mathematical rules for measuring height and length, 1557; then follows 'L'Arte della Navigatione', Italian, with tables and moveable dials, 1567; and the last of the sixteenth century is by a Jesuit, Francisco da Costa (1567-1604). 'Arte de Navegar', written between 1596 and 1598 and illustrated with sketches of the astrolabe and compass. There are three seventeenth-century volumes; a treatise on astronomy by Thomas Willford entitled 'A genuine description and use of the perpetual calendar', 1654, which also contains a description of measures and of 'moveable fairs' around the country; a volume containing navigational exercises, often illustrated, by William Downman, written between 1685 and 1686, with a large amount of other information, including lists of ships, drawings of flags. poems, victualling and measures; and a workbook by Edward Ward, 1698, containing execises in navigation, astronomy and mathematics. The eleven eighteenth-century volumes include a copy of Robert Wright's 'Treatise on finding longitude at sea', 1726; a volume of lecture notes on navigation and astronomy given in Naples, 1755; and a volume in Turkish by Ibrahim Haggi, ca.1800, entitled 'Marifet Nameh' ('Encyclopedia of Knowledge'), on astronomy, architecture and geography. There are twelve nineteenth-century volumes dating between 1804 and 1883, all of which contain navigational and astonomical exercises transcribed by British seamen.

Miscellaneous collection of manuscripts, comprising:

1. Fragment of a printed receipt, completed in manuscript, issued to Admiral Sir Clowdisley Shovell by the Exchequer for 3 months interest for a loan at 8 %, 15 Apr 1697.
2. Order by Shovell as Admiral to Philip Stanhope, Captain of HMS Milford, to receive a Lieutenant and 30 marines from [HMS] Tilbury, 29 Aug 1706.
3. Printed receipt, completed in manuscript, for payment to Shovell by the Exchequer of a 6 monthly installment of an annuity, 20 Nov 1706.
4. Map of Blakeney channel and Cley channel, Norfolk, mounted and coloured, from Greenvile Collins, Great Britain's Coasting Pilot (1693). With an engraved inscription by Collins dedicating the map to Shovell.
5. Modern reproduction of a reduced plan of Soho Square, London, inscribed 'House of Sir Clowdisley [Shovell]'. The original plan, probably made in the 18th century, was that of 'the late Duke of Portland's estate in the neighbourhood of Soho Square'.
6. Leaf from a letter-book, with copies of 5 letters initialled 'E.K.', dated 29 Aug 1797, Dublin, to Robert Eyre at Tallow (Co. Waterford); Thomas Osbourne at Fort Charles, Kinsale (Co. Cork); Edward Mapoller at 'Killeoan(?) near Roscommon'; William Hailey at 'Fore Park(?) near Athlone'; and 'Dr. Toves(?)'. The writer had just reached Dublin from London, and intended to travel to Roscommon and Galway. The letters to Eyre and Osbourne(?) mention payments to be made to John Kelly at the Treasury in the castle at Dublin; those to Eyre and Toves(?) refer to 'Davies (who is in custody in London)'. The leaf was formerly part of a binding.
7. Fragment of a list of deeds concerning the property of Richard and Mary Chiswell at Finchingfield, Essex, written in the 18th century.
8. Printed bill for an exhibition of the picture of the battle of Lodi of 1796 by Robert Ker Porter, with a sketch of the picture and explanatory notes.
9. Printed matter including Rules and Regulations of the St James's Loyal Volunteers (1797).
10. Recipes for 'Ginger Bread Nuts', various drinks, and for medicines; instructions for cleaning 'black straw hats', dating from the early 19th century.
11. Three engraved certificates completed in manuscript for William Buchanan, (1) for training in midwifery by John Haighton, dated 18 Nov 1814, (2) for attendance of courses on anatomy, signed by John Abernethy, dated May 1815, and (3) for honorary membership of the London Vaccine Institution, dated 26 Aug 1816.
12. Genealogies of families, endorsed 'Hussey, Barons of Galtrim, Feypo and Maurward, Barons of Scune', relating to the medieval period, written in the 19th century.
13. Drafts of two essays by Edwin Hadlow Wise Dunkin, headed 'Our Satellite. Sent for insertion in the City of London School Magazine...January 1865' (ff. 1-12), and 'The Lesser Light [i.e. the moon]...August 1866. Sent to Chambers Journal, 4 Sep 1866' (ff. 15-19).
14. 'A Short Tour on the Cornish Coast', with remarks on weather and monuments, historical anecdotes, and sketches in pencil and pastels, 1879.
15. 'Voyage of the Lioness', from Scalloway, Shetland, to Foula and Fair Isle. The Lioness was commanded by Captain Robertson; the passengers were described as 'the doctor and the professor'. The journal describes the inhabitants of the islands, and birds and animals seen. Written in the early 20th century.
16. Monologue in pidgin English, probably written for entertainment, in which Kassim Ali describes his activities during the bombardment of Alexandria, his going on board the Condor, his delivery of a letter to [Ahmed] Arabi, the flight from Alexandria to Cairo, and his prevention of the explosion of the magazine in the fort of Ras-el-Jin. The account probably refers to the bombardment of Alexandria by the British fleet on 11 Jul 1882; see The Times for 22 Jul 1882, p. 5. Written in the 20th century on note-paper addressed 'Kenley, Surrey'.
17. Modern brass rubbing from the tomb of Thomas Potter (d 6 Jun 1531), taken from Westerham Church, Kent.
18. Collection of miscellaneous printed ephemera dating from the early 19th to the early 20th century. Includes a receipt for a share in the 'Strand [i.e. Waterloo] Bridge', London, 1812; a card for the White Lion Hotel, Bala, Merioneth, early 19th century; a plan of the Great Exhibition of 1851; pictures of Plymouth pier, early 20th century; a birthday card of 1887; a prospectus for an auction of shares of the Ilford Gas Co., 1907; tickets for books from the Officers' Library of the Royal Marines at Woolwich and Forton, and from B.O. May's Circulating Library, Teignmouth; a book-plate (?) of H.C. Sharpin, Ripon, 19th century; and bank notes of the Republic of Argentina, late 19th or early 20th century.

Of the twelve volumes in this class, two relate to the society of East India Commanders; one, 1780 to 1833, records wagers between members and promises of gifts to the society upon such eventualities as marriage or leaving the service; the other is an account book, 1825 to 1879. The remaining eight volumes are 'Elements of Navigation' by pupils of Christ's Hospital Mathematical School; the earliest is dated 1723 and the latest is c 1845. All are very carefully executed and the subjects include arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, gunnery and navigation; the majority are illustrated with diagrams, maps, pen and ink sketches or watercolours.

Papers of W O McEwan, 1884-1885, including four field notebooks, Apr 1884 - May 1885, of a journy from Durban to Mozambique via the Zambezi river, Livingstonia and Karonga on Lake Nyasa and of a journey from Lake Nyasa to Lake Tanganyika; astronomical observations, on river Kwaka and at the African Lakes Corporation station at Maruru, British East Africa, May 1884; notes taken on route from Lake Nyasa to Lake Tanganyika, including particulars of the countries passed through, notes on an alternative route from Chirimadamusi to [Diumkorolo]; three sketch maps of British East Africa and aprinted map of 'Route survey Nyassa to Tanganyika by James Stewart, 1879' with red ink line of 'proposed variation' added.

Papers of Professor Sir William Hunter McCrea, 1890-2004, comprise 10 sections, A-J. Section A: Biographical, presents significant material relating to McCrea's education and career, honours and awards. There are obituaries, interviews and biographical and autobiographical writings. The autobiographical writings consider some of his principal areas of research activity such as 'statistical physics', 'quantum physics', 'Dirac's Large Number hypothesis (LNh) and cosmology', 'solar system problems' and 'Relativity'. Of especial interest for the beginning of his career are the folders of notes made and the 37 notebooks kept by him as an undergraduate and research student at Trinity College Cambridge, 1923-1929, including the period at Göttingen in 1928-1929. Amongst the lecturers and topics represented are P.A.M. Dirac (Modern Quantum Mechanics), A.S. Eddington (Stellar Astronomy), R.H. Fowler (Thermodynamics and Kinetic Theory of Gases), D.R. Hartree (Physics of the Quantum Theory), H. Jeffreys (Operational Methods), J.E. Littlewood (Analysis Theory of Series) and F.J.M. Stratton (Stellar Physics). Also presented here are a series of 'personal' scrapbooks beginning with no. 3 '1960-1967 with a few earlier items' and continuing to the end of his life with no.17 '1993-1997'. The scrapbooks document McCrea's career in photographs, newspaper cuttings, programmes of meetings, invitation cards, table plans, etc. A series of seven 'general' scrapbooks cover the period 1960-1997 and contain principally press-cuttings, especially obituaries. There is also a great deal of other personal memorabilia in the form of invitation cards, programmes, menu cards, seating plans and similar. Many relate to academic occasions, especially in the University of London or scientific occasions, for example at the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society. Section B, University Career, documents a succession of university positions at Edinburgh, Imperial College London, Queen's University Belfast, Royal Holloway University of London and University of Sussex. There is correspondence relating to his early career at Imperial and Belfast, 1934-1944, correspondence and papers relating to Royal Holloway including the Mathematics Department and continuing after his departure for Sussex, 1945-1984, while the Sussex material documents, amongst other matters, aspects of the work of the Astronomy Centre, 1966-1989. However, the largest group of university material relates to McCrea's teaching which is a particularly valuable record for the earlier part of his career at Edinburgh, Imperial and Belfast and continues at Royal Holloway. There is also teaching material for a number of his Visiting Professorships: University of California, Berkeley in 1956 and 1967 and Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland, Ohio in 1964. Also presented here are McCrea's notes on the university teaching of others (subsequent to his own undergraduate and postgraduate education), including E.T. Whittaker and C.G. Darwin at Edinburgh and J. Todd at Belfast.

Section C, Research, is predominantly the contents of McCrea's titled folders which may include manuscript working, drafts, correspondence and off-prints. The folders cover an extended period from 1928 to the 1980s and are presented in chronological order as far as possible. Folder topics include, amongst many others, relativity, 'Milne Theory', stellar models, interstellar molecules and continual creation. Folder titles may also indicate an association with the work of collaborators, for example 'Kermack - McCrea Problems' in the 1930s, and with that of research students, especially at Royal Holloway. Some of the folders contained drafts for identifiable publications and lectures and assignment amongst the sections of the catalogue was not straightforward. Section D, Publications, presents a major chronological sequence of drafts and related material for McCrea's publications, covering the exceptionally long period of seventy years, 1928-1997. The non-availability of a reliable bibliography of McCrea's publications, especially for the period after 1970, meant that the designation of drafts as intended for publication was sometimes tentative. A separate sequence of reviews by McCrea covers the period 1949-1995. Publications correspondence documents McCrea in a number of advisory roles including journal editor. The largest group of papers relates to the Cambridge University Press, 1964-1991 where McCrea was an editor of the Press's General Relativity series and of the Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics from the conception of the series in 1972. Correspondents include fellow editor D.W. Sciama. Of particular interest is a much shorter sequence of correspondence and papers relating to The Observatory Magazine. McCrea became an editor in 1935 and is referred to as a former editor in 1939. Correspondents include fellow editor R.v.d.R. Woolley and contributors S. Chandrasekhar, T.G. Cowling and E.A. Milne, and offering a paper 'as an outsider' J.B.S. Haldane. Section E, Lectures, presents a major chronological sequence of drafts and related material for McCrea's public and invitation lectures, 1931-1993. The sequence documents the great variety of topics on which McCrea talked and the range of his audiences in Britain and overseas from Oslo in 1936 to Brioni, Croatia in 1990. Also presented here are a small group of lectures by other scientists including a notebook used for McCrea's notes of lectures by A.C. Aitkin, W.O. Kermack and E.T. Whittaker, possibly at an occasion at Queen's University Belfast while McCrea was professor there, and a duplicated typescript copy of a lecture on the meaning of wave mechanics given by Erwin Schrödinger in Dublin in 1952.

Section F, Societies and organisations, presents records of McCrea's association with twenty-five UK and international organisations including the British Association, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, a proposed UK Institute for Theoretical Astronomy, the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO), Royal Society and the UK Science Research Council (SRC) / Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC). McCrea's British Association papers cover an extended period 1934-1983 including an early period from 1934 to the beginning of the Second World War when he was involved in various capacities with the work of the Committee of Section A (Mathematical and Physical Sciences). Although the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies material covers a very short period 1940-1942, this represents the founding of the Institute. McCrea was a member of the Governing Board of the School of Theoretical Physics from 31 October 1940. There is significant documentation of the proposed UK Institute for Theoretical Astronomy, 1960-1966, possible locations being Cambridge (its eventual home) and Brighton. McCrea was a member (later Chairman) of the Subcommittee of the British National Committee for Astronomy which considered the proposed Institute. IAU papers principally relate to its general assemblies and symposia, 1955-1988, the 1935 Paris General Assembly being represented by historical reflections written by McCrea in 1988. McCrea's long association with the Royal Astronomical Society is documented by one of the largest components of the archive. There is a good record in correspondence and other papers of his Presidency, 1961-1963 and of the RAS Club, of which McCrea was President for many years. The most substantial group of RAS papers relates to the history of the Society, McCrea contributing a chapter on the 1930s in the second volume of its history (published 1987) covering the period, 1920-1980. McCrea also had a very long association with the Royal Greenwich Observatory which is extensively documented. There are records of the Admiralty Board of Visitors and its successor, the SRC RGO Committee and of the celebrations of the RGO Tercentenary (1675-1975) in which McCrea took a leading role. He prepared an historical review of the Observatory which was published by the HMSO in 1975, gave a number of papers on the RGO's history and wrote an article for the tercentenary exhibition catalogue. The most significant of his RGO papers, however, are probably those which relate to the decision of the SERC to move the RGO from Herstmonceux Castle in Sussex. McCrea was a very active campaigner against the move. He corresponded with politicians and colleagues and a number of colleagues copied their letters to him. He also wrote on a number of occasions to The Times which published an article by him on 23 April 1986. He attended a meeting of Fellows at the Royal Society, 23 May 1986, and a meeting convened by Patrick Moore, 6 June 1986, to express and to co-ordinate opinions that opposed the SERC's decision. Records of McCrea's Royal Society committee service illuminate developments in British astronomy and space science in the decades following the Second World War. There are also papers relating to two discussion meetings he helped organise: the origin and early evolution of the galaxies in 1979 and the constants of physics in 1983. Finally, McCrea's SRC / SERC material, 1966-1985, provides further documentation relating to British astronomy and space science and the future of the RGO.

Section G, Visits and conferences, provides a useful but incomplete record of McCrea's travel in the UK and overseas to attend all kinds of scientific meetings and conferences. The papers cover the period 1954-1989 and include his Visiting Professorships at University of California, Berkeley in 1956 and 1967, University of Cairo in 1973 and University of Otago, Dunedin, in 1979 and his visits as Royal Society Exchange Visitor to the USSR in 1960 and 1968 and to Egypt in 1981. He was a regular visitor to the University of Liege, Belgium to attend international astrophysical symposia and to the USA to attend Texas Symposia on relativistic astrophysics. Meetings held under IAU and Royal Society auspices are also to be found in Section F. Section H, History of science and scientific biography, represents a major interest and commitment of McCrea. He wrote and lectured on historical and biographical aspects of areas of his scientific interest, especially associated with major anniversaries. He also wrote many obituaries and the Royal Society biographical memoirs of H.H. Plaskett and R.v.d.R. Woolley. There are particularly large accumulations of material relating to Einstein, R.H. Fowler, E.A. Milne, Plaskett, E. Schrödinger and Woolley. Records of his principal historical writing on the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Greenwich Observatory are to be found in Section F.

Section J, Correspondence, is extensive and important and is presented in a number of alphabetical and chronological series suggested by McCrea's own arrangement. It covers the period 1942-1996. There is correspondence with colleagues and others relating to all aspects of his work including research, publications, lectures and visits and conferences. There are many examples of correspondence and papers from members of the public and amateur scientists on such topics as cosmology and relativity theory. Furthermore, there is significant correspondence in other parts of the archive, for example in association with his publications work and his professional affiliations with scientific societies and organisations. Taking the archive as a whole, there is correspondence of note with most of the major scientific figures in his areas of interest and the following list of principal correspondents is therefore highly selective: H. Bondi, S. Chandrasekhar, T.G. Cowling, H. Dingle, J.A. Jacobs, A.C.B. Lovell, R.A. Lyttleton, S.K. Runcorn, D.W. Sciama, J.L. Synge, R.J. Tayler, A. Unsöld, G.J. Whitrow, A.W. Wolfendale and R. v.d.R. Woolley.

Papers of Alfred Percival Maudslay, 1885-1891, relating to the Yucatan peninsula including four notebooks from the Yucatan including some diary entries and observations for positions and notes on excavations, 1886, 1887, 1889 and 1891, and astronomical computations, Yucatan peninsula, 1885.

Arithmeticae et Astronomicae Auctores Varii: 15th century (possibly 1468) mathematical and astronomical treatises by various authors. Earlier texts written in Italy by one hand; others written by Heinrich Langenstein and Paul of Olmütz (?). Full page diagram of the zodiac on folio 47r.

Letters of Nevil Maskelyne on astronomy.

Papers of Sir William Macgregor relating to Labrador, 1902-1909, including astronomical observations, Labrador, 1902-1908; letters from the Hydrographic Office, 1905 and letter from Macgregor to Grenfell, 24 Nov 1909.

The correspondence of Sir John William Lubbock, providing information on a wide range of Lubbock's contemporaries, not exclusively in the field of science. The largest collections of scientific letters are from George Biddell Airy (113 letters), John George Children (128 letters), Joshua Alwyn Compton, 2nd Marquis of Northampton (98 letters), G P D de Pontecoulant (67 letters) and William Whewell (87 letters). There are smaller but no less important groups of letters from Charles Babbage, Francis Baily, Francis Beaufort, Charles Darwin, John Couch Adams, J F W Herschel, Baden Powell and W H F Talbot.

The collection of Richard Long, 1885-1950, including:

MS 77

Manuscript and typescript notes made by Long, extracted from periodicals and books.

MS 78

Scrap paper notes made by Long.

MS 79

Correspondence between Long and S.G. Morley.

MS 80

Three notebooks containing abstracts. [Kilcavan, Geashill, 1885-1896].

MS 81

'Researches of Maya astronomy' translated 1-6, [by] Hans Ludendorff, Berlin, 1930-1933.

MS 82

Proofs of Maya hieroglyphic writing, by J.E. Thompson, Washington, 1950 with notes by Long inserted.

MS 83

Notes and abstracts from papers by various authors including on Mexico, Maya and Egypt.

MS 84

Typescript 'The new and the old in Guatemala' and 'The calendar of Soloma and of other Indian towns', by Robert Burkitt. 1929-1930 and proofs of 'The calendar of Soloma', published in Man, 1929.

MS 85

'Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimen: Tun prophecies, with comparisons from the Mani version', translated by Ralph Roys, [11 June 1948].

MS 86

Collection of reprints and photostat copies of papers by Robert H. Merrill, [1941-1947].

MS 87

Collection of reprints by various authors, including correspondence and notes, [1924-1949].

MS 88

'Further implications of Thompson's readings of Maya inscriptions at Copan', 2 Apr 1948.

MS 89

Biography of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford (1593-1641).

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).

Kew Observatory Sunspot measurements from 24 January 1864 to 9 April 1872.

Resumé on Hingleys of Metherton, July 1994 and an article, Urania's Mirror: a 170 year-old mystery solved ( a published off-print).

'The Right ascension and Polar distance brought to January 1800 of the 2500 Nebulae and Clusters of Stars', printed in the Philosophical Transactions by Sir William Herschel.

Copy of the diary of Sir John Herschel 1834-1870.

The correspondence of Sir John Frederick William Herschel, comprising three main groups of documents:
The first series comprises 19 volumes of manuscript letters sent to Herschel, with drafts of his replies (Ref: HS 1-19).

The second series comprises 16 volumes of copy letters from Herschel (Ref: HS 20-25). These are arranged in chronological order and are apparently constructed from Herschel's original letters brought together by a son, Col. John Herschel R.E., for a proposed biography and then returned to their original owners. The biography was never produced. There is some duplication between these versions of finished letters and the rough versions of the same in HS 1-19.
The third series comprises five boxes of unbound manuscript letters, copy books and listings (Ref: HS 25-28) in which there appears information on the copying project, and groups of original letters on particular topics, such as Herschel's involvement in W H F Talbot's photography patent disputes.

Letters to and from various members of the Herschel family. MS.7867 contains material relating to Sir William Herschel (1738-1822), Caroline Lucretia Herschel (1750-1848) and Alexander Stewart Herschel (1836-1907); MS.7868 centres on Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871).

Papers of Sir John Frederick William Herschel consisting of notes, news cuttings and Lady Herschel's housekeeping accounts for 1832 to 1838 and for 1852 to 1886; papers concerning the family's Molyneux chronometer together with a description of Sir John's barometer, 1832 to 1833.

Papers of Sir William Frederick Herschel . There are three volumes of cash accounts kept by Lady Herschel between 1795 and 1825. The first gives details of Sir William's salary as Court Astronomer and of the proceeds from selling telescopes; the other two are housekeeping accounts. There are also letters, proofs and notes about the publication of Herschel's catalogues of the brightness of stars and pamphlets about him and his sister, Caroline, who assisted him with his observations.

Books relating to the foundation of Gresham College, the history of Gresham School, the lives of the professors of Gresham College, the Gresham lectures of Sir John Flamsteed, the Sir Thomas Gresham trusts, the life and times of Sir Thomas Gresham and genealogical memoranda.

Papers of John Walter Greogory, 1903-1922, including photostat of annual report of the Secretary for Mines and Water Supply to D McLeod, State of Victoria Australia, including a report by Gregory, Director of the Geological Survey, 1903; hyposometric and astronomical observations, Yunnan and Tibet, 1913; and notes and letters from E A Reeves and A R Hinks of the Royal Geographical Society to J W Gregory and C J Gregory, 1921-1922.

Papers of the Gregory family. Volume One includes writings by Sir Isaac Newton, 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 contains letters and papers of the Gregory family: David Gregory of Kinnairdie; James Gregorie; David Gregorie; and Charles Gregory (Professor of Mathematics at Edinburgh University); also including some papers of Sir Isaac Newton.

Letters and papers about the affairs of the Greenwich Observatory in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

The correspondence and papers of Thomas Gold, astrophysicist, 1920-2004. The papers that comprise this collection provide a fascinating insight into Thomas Gold's research, views and life as an academic. They relate to almost very aspect of his career from his work at the Admiralty Signal Establishment, research into the theory of hearing and controversy over his proposal that the surface of the moon would be covered with a layer of fine-grained rock powder, to his advocacy of the contentious theory that oil and gas deposits are non-biological (abiogenic) in origin and his proposal, proved correct, that microbial life exists deep beneath the earth's surface.

Papers of Sir David Gill, [1870-1920], including approximately 1000 letters addressed to Gill, chiefly scientific in content, written in the 1870s and in the first decade of the 20th century; letters relating to awards and orders received by Gill, 1891-1913 and printed report on the initiation and progress of the geodetic survey of Rhodesia.

Official documents and letters relating to Galileo, some in transcription, 1629-[1930].

Observations by James Baillie Fraser, 1820-1821, including astronomical observations on a journey from Bushire to Tehran, 1821 and observations for latitude time and longitude from Lucknow to Bombay, 1820-1821.

Papers of Rachel Fowler comprising note books on world travel and Andre Thevet (1502-1590).

Papers of Professor Alfred Fowler, 1903-1935, including observations on the sun, 1903-1910; laboratory notebooks, 1906-1913; telescope design, 1906-1910; miscellaneous correspondence, 1916-1935.

Papers of Rev George Fisher. The earliest items are two books of mathematical theorems, 1811 and 1813. There are volumes of notes and observations for both Fisher's Arctic voyages and for his period in the Mediterranean, accounts of later scientific work and abstracts of observations made by other scientists. This is the material which formed the basis of the scientific papers which he published in the Philosophical Transactions and elsewhere. There are letterbooks for Greenwich Hospital School from 1836 to 1863 (excepting the years 1858, 1859 and 1860) and other reports and papers relating to the School There are a number of items collected by Fisher The most important are Peter Puget's journal for March to May 1793 in the Chatham, storeship for Vancouver's expedition; a meteorological log also giving details of ship arrivals and departures at Madras, 1815 to 1816; Franklin's (q.v.) lunar observations on board the Trent in 1818 and Parry's (1790-1855) meteorological journal on his first two voyages in search of the North-West Passage in 1819 to 1820 and 1821 to 1823.

Papers of and relating to Percy Fawcett including 'The exploration of the Rio Aquiry', 1906-1907; letters to Reginald Pound, 1923 and to the editor of World Wide Magazine, 1923; report to the Royal Anthropological Institute, London, 15 Nov 1951, on some human remains brought from Brazil by Senor Chateaubriand and thought to be those of P. H. Fawcett; astronomical observations, Bolivia-Peru boundary and Bolivia-Brazil boundary, 1908-1910; 'The new frontier between Bolivia and Peru', 1910 and papers relating to the search for Col Fawcett.

A notebook dated 1772 bearing the title The Rudiments of Geography and Astronomy, from the Dictates of Sam. Dunn, Teacher of Mathamaticks &c.

An ecclesiastical and astronomical calendar, together with the tables and figures of the zodiac: folding calendar on a sheet of parchment. Originally two rows, each of twenty four folds, but the first folds in the lower row ( lower if the sheet is looked at from the side containing art. 1) are missing and the first fold in the upper row has been sewn to the foot of the second fold. Three membranes were joined to make a sheet.

In both rows on one side, the calendar is in blue, red, green and black, four folds to a month. The second half of January is missing. Entries in red include Edwardii Regis and Translacio Edwardi Regis (20 March, 13 October); in black, Translacio Mildride (13 July). Each feast is illustrated by a conventional head, sideways, in coloured penwork: kings crowned, abbots tonsured etc. The ruling is in red and green inks.

On the other side, the other way up: (a) in the upper row, the sign of the zodiac in each month, followed by its occupation; (b) in the lower row, an astronomical calendar, 1 january to 15 June on 22 folds, four to a month.

(a) The January sign and occupation are missing. The December occupation came on the fold which was exposed when the sheet was closed and has been rubbed away.

(b) The first two folds were left blank.