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Papers, c1914-1989, of Dame Kathleen Lonsdale.

Biographical material includes correspondence and papers relating to imprisonment in Holloway Prison, with Lonsdale's own accounts of her time there; diaries and personal notebooks, 1946-1969; letters of congratulation on election as Fellow of the Royal Society (1945); various photographs dating from school to her later years.

Papers relating to Lonsdale's teaching and administrative work at University College London include papers on teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses; significant documentation relating to laboratory personnel, research funding and general university administration; papers relating to the 'Round Table on Peace Studies', which proposed the establishment of a centre for research into international conflict at the University.

Research material, 1924-1970, consists of Royal Institution papers comprising notebooks, one dating from Lonsdale's first period there (1923-1927), correspondence with colleagues such as W H Bragg and J M Robertson, and Lonsdale's notes and drafts for various research topics; correspondence and papers from her University College years covering many different areas of research, including diffuse scattering of X-rays, thermal vibrations in crystals, methonium compounds and urinary calculi (the latter topic particularly well documented and including several case studies), and including a large group of photographs, mostly of X-ray diffraction patterns.

Papers on the preparation of volumes of the International Tables for crystal structure determination from Lonsdale's chairmanship of the Commission on Tables (1948) comprise drafts, notes and correspondence with colleagues and publishers.

Extensive papers relating to publications, lectures and broadcasts include drafts of articles, on subjects including peace and religious issues, also including obituaries and biographical articles on various individuals, books, book reviews, obituaries, and letters to newspapers and magazines, the latter principally on the issue of atomic weapons; general correspondence concerning publications; drafts of lectures, 1945-1970, including ethics and the role of science in society; a large series of lecture notes, 1933-1970; scripts for broadcasts, on topics ranging from crystallography to religion, 1945-1967.

Papers on foreign and domestic travel, 1943-1971, relating to conferences and lectures, on crystallography, science ethics, and work for the Society of Friends, including her visit to China (1955) and her world tour (1965).

Papers relating to organisations, notably the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) and the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), including material relating to a number of International Congresses of Crystallography, also papers relating to participation in Pugwash Conferences on World Affairs, 1958-1970, and papers concerning prison reform and the running of Bullwood Hall Borstal, Essex.

Correspondence, 1927-1974, comprises two main sequences, one arranged alphabetically, the other chronologically; 'day files', principally carbons of outgoing correspondence, 1966-1969; a sequence of references and recommendations; also including correspondence relating to Lonsdale's period of imprisonment (1943). Correspondents include scientists such as Max Born, W H Bragg, W L Bragg, E G Cox, Dorothy Hodgkin, Judith Milledge, L C Pauling and A J C Wilson.

Papers, 1937-c1990, of Alex Comfort.

The first deposit (6 boxes) comprises letters received, 1937-1964, on his literary and other interests, with the letters of 1937-1945 focussing particularly on literary subjects, including poetry in the 1940s, but latterly more varied, including ideas and activism in anarchism, pacifism, and nuclear disarmament, as public speaker, broadcaster and pamphleteer, including for example letters from Bertrand Russell, 1960-1962; copies of letters from Herbert Read, 1941-1964; a few personal papers, 1936-1946, including The Times announcement of the birth of Comfort's son, 1946; papers relating to peace campaigns in which Comfort was involved, 1944-1961; lecture notes and poetry, stories, and articles by Comfort on pacifism, politics, and science, 1941-1960 and undated; printed papers relating to Comfort's interests, 1945-1962.The second deposit (46 boxes, 4 files) comprises 14 boxes of correspondence relating to Comfort's work, publications, and other interests, some dating back to 1949 but largely dating from the 1960s to 1980s; manuscripts and, particularly, typescripts of both published and unpublished verse and prose, both scientific and non-scientific, including for example 'I and That', 'The facts of love', 'A practice of geriatric psychiatry', 'Reality and empathy', 'The Power House', 'More joy', 'A giants strength', 'Darwin and the naked lady', 'Come out to play', 'The Almond Tree', and 'Letters from an outpost'; printed articles by Comfort, the topics including old age and some sexual subjects; scripts for talks and broadcasts; press cuttings, dating largely from the 1950s and 1960s, relating to Comfort and his work; a file of slides of India, 1962, and two files of scientific slides; printed papers by other authors on various scientific topics.