Showing 3 results

Robinson's volatile temperament and his impatience with administration and routine have seriously affected the survival of material. Thus little survives of his correspondence which he usually wrote in longhand and without copies, or of his public life, service on committees, advisory boards, learned societies, and in the launching of new journals. There are, however, many manuscript notes in varying lengths of sequence and a few notebooks relating to research topics. Examples are a sequence of ideas on the possible structure of strychnine, tentatively dated 1945-1947 by J.W. Cornforth, and from a later period two relatively extensive sequences of research and correspondence, on the origins of petroleum and on drug research. Lacunae in the collection are to some extent compensated for by the autobiographical material. There are the background material and corrected proofs for the first volume of his memoirs published in 1976, and substantial typescript drafts of the second volume which was unfinished at his death together with narratives, correspondence and photographs sent to him by colleagues. There are also tape-recordings of conversations with colleagues covering similar types of recollections.

Two tracts on acids by John McNab comprising:

1. Experiments on Mineral Acids and Rectified Spirits of Wine, for finding the greatest degree of cold.

2. Experiments on the Congelation of Vitriolic and Nitrous Acids in Hudson's Bay.

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.