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The papers are very extensive though there are some lacunae, probably attributable to Chain's many changes of workplace. The early biographical period is sparsely documented, there are sporadic gaps in the correspondence files, and there is no original documentation of the penicillin research at Oxford (although there are many historical accounts and much correspondence about the history of penicillin). The surviving biographical material provides documentation of the arrangements for Chain to live and work in Britain, later honours and awards and his musical interests, and family correspondence, photographs and press-cuttings. There are very substantial records of his later career at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità and Imperial College, London, including his continuing contributions to biochemical problems such as carbohydrate metabolism, ergot alkaloids, edible proteins and aeration studies. The Imperial College material also contains records of the creation, administration, finance and architectural design of the Biochemistry Department, and developments in the Department after Chain's statutory retirement in 1973. Additional information about Chain's research is available in the documentation of his very extensive consultancy agreements and collaborative work with industrial firms such as Astra, Beechams and Rank Hovis McDougall, and records relating to government, grant-giving and charitable bodies such as the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research Campaign and Medical Research Council which contributed to the funding of his research. There is much material on Chain's lectures, addresses and broadcasts, and on his extensive travel on visits and conferences, which includes a substantial number of unpublished talks.

An exceptional feature of the Chain papers is the documentation of the large number of Israel and Jewish organisations with which he was associated, especially the Weizmann Institute of Science, where he was a governor for many years and had at one time considered taking up an appointment.

Papers of the Strangeways Research Laboratory, c 1901-1988, comprising papers of T S P Strangeways; annual reports including 1929-1950; minutes and correspondence of the Trustees, 1929-1971; account books and ledgers, 1929-1970; papers relating to funding from various bodies, 1929-1975; papers relating to Medical Research Council funding, c.1962-1969; papers relating to grants, c.1963-1970 and c.1967-1980; administrative records, 1931-1971; general correspondence, 1942-1947, 1954-1956, and 1965-1970; assorted files, 1930s-1960s; miscellaneous historical material including research by George Eric Howard Foxon; minutes of the Radium Commission, 1932-1943; and papers relating to C F Robinow, E M Brieger and Michael Abercrombie.