Papers of Professor Charles Davis, [1959-1994] including personal papers and notes on topics including ethics, conscience, prayer, Eucharist, penance, faith, anointing of the sick, meaning of history, magisterum, atonement, freedom, sexual morality, the devil, the church, contraception, John Milton, hypnotism, Christian reform, Jesus Christ, liturgy, the Virgin Mary, ecumenism, baptism, interpreting modern theology and celibacy; working papers and papers for taught courses on the following topics: Christian mysticism, living as a Christian, theories of religion, Immanuel Kant's moral philosophy, Leslie Milton, promise of critical theology, faith and the artist, doctrine and life, Bernard Lonergan, 'our bodily selves and God', religion and literature, psychoanalysis, William George Ward, early Christianity, unity, Paul Ricoer, transubstantiation, David Lodge, Graham Greene, Muriel Spark, Mary Gordon, John Updike, Johann Baptist, J F Powers, Marc P Lalonde, secularisation, political theology, Medieval Christianity, Christ and the world, parables, Ursula LeGuin, Flannery O'Connor, Callahan, Iris Murdoch, Margaret Drabble, Hermuenics, Christian modernism, Thomas Hardy, the human body, Herbert Hartley Dewart and religious experience.

Notes for PhD seminars including on Karl Marx, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegal, G E Moore, Reinhold Niebuhr, Friedrich Nietzsche, Godamer, William James and Richard Hare and other seminars including on Michel Foucault, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Max Weber, Buckminster Fuller and Woodstock College seminar, 1973.

Lectures including on the Vatican, CBC talks, 1967, the Wilson lectures, lectures at Huron College, Mar 1984 and the Simonsville talks; unpublished papers and articles by Davis; reviews, on and by Davis; papers relating to the Killam Research Fellowship; poems; press cuttings chiefly by or on Davis; obituaries; papers relating to conferences including the 'Critical theory and empirical method' conference and a report on the conference on 'The relevancy of organised religion', Oct 1969; diary of a visit to England, Aug 1975; draft manuscript 'The Presence of Christ, Reflections on the Eucharist'; papers relating to appointments including CVs and references; papers relating to academic institutions including Concordia University, Pontifica Universitas Gregoriana, Heythrop College, Lakehead University and the University of Alberta; Davis' personal financial and legal papers and other personal papers; offprints of articles and journals; PhD theses supervised by Davis and personal and professional correspondence on topics including leaving the Roman Catholic Church; the birth of his children; conferences and talks; his wedding; on 'becoming a liberated Christian'; ecclesiastical topics; royalties and correspondence with publishers, notably Cambridge University Press.

Papers of Arthur Francis George Kerr, 1906-c 1940, comprising 28 diaries, some relating to his daily life and others are expedition diaries retracing various itnieraries, including field diaries from Siam and the Siam-Burman border; photographs of landscapes, people, vegetation and other subjects, chiefly on trips within Siam; plant records including 158 plant tag books mentioning their numbers and the areas covered; typescript and manuscript lists recording plants collected by others on behalf of Kerr; 16 files and volumes relating to the flora of Siam, some are for specific regions such as Bangkok or Kaw Tao and some for specific plants such as orchids; volumes containing Siamese local plant names; twenty three notebooks of notes taken from various Herbaria, namely Geneva, Kew, Paris and the British Museum (Natural History Museum); records of other collectors including some commissioned by Kerr; records of plants from Siam for the publication of Flora Siamensis Enumeratio; notes and correspondence relating to Siamese drugs and medicinal plants; slips for various plant groups; 11 files of correspondence, mainly related to botanical matters including the publishing of Florae Siamensis Enumeratio, one with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and seven relating to ferns, including correspondence and fern lists from Eryl Smith; and publications including reprints from The Record and reports on Botanical Tours undertaken in Siam as well as crops such as cotton and various other plants, published by The Botanical Section, Ministry of Commerce, Bangkok and volume of sketches of Orchids from Chengmai.

Papers relating to Gresham College, 1575-1952, including the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, dated 5 July 1575; receipts for payments to officers; workmen's bills for repairs, decorations, and alterations; acquittance books; account books; cash books; minute books and papers, Royal Exchange and Gresham Trusts Committee; lecturers' papers.

Also papers relating to the Royal Exchange, 1670-1997, including workmen's bills, orders for payment and receipts; accounts of arrears of rents and various administrative and financial papers relating to rebuilding and maintenance.

Lecture notes, case notes and abstracts of printed works compiled by Lyon Falkener in various professional positions, 1861-1948: most importantly as locum tenens at Claybury Asylum and the Western Fever Hospital, Fulham, and as Assistant House Surgeon at the Metropolitan Hospital, London. A few personal items, largely testimonials and photographs supplement these, together with medical papers by Falkener. Falkener's later career as a general practitioner at Icart, Guernsey, is represented by a collection of his prescriptions.

'Cours d'anatomie pathologique...', transcribed by Augustin Palle, a medical student, year 10. An apparently complete transcript of Bichat's final course of lectures on pathological anatomy, delivered at the Hôtel-Dieu, Paris, between September 1801 and the spring of 1802. Palle must have written up his notes sometime between 1 August 1802 (the date of a letter from Bonaparte copied before the text) and 22 September 1802 (the last day of year 10). The arrangement of the text broadly conforms to that of the version published by F.-G. Boisseau, Anatomie pathologique, dernier cours de Xavier Bichat (Paris, 1825).

Lectures delivered at Dr. Affleck's Class of Physic, Surgeons Hall, Edinburgh. Winter Session 1897-1898: On the Practice of Medicine. Holograph notes taken by Dr John Dixon Comrie [1875-1939]. Written on the rectos only, with inserted printed summaries pasted in: and in Vol. I, a 'General Outline of the Course'. Produced in Edinburgh.

Four lecture notebooks of Hedwig (Hedy) Lehmann when she was a medical student, covering the period 1942-1945. These items shed light on the curriculum and teaching methods in nursing training in England during the Second World War period. With additional original and copy documents relating to H Lehmann and her nursing career, and transcript of an interview H Lehmann gave to historians Sybille Baumbach and Beate Meyer in London May 1991 investigating the history of the Jewish community in Hamburg during the years up to and including the Second World War.

Volumes entitled, "B.S. Albini dictata in Physiologiam", probably a set of manuscript lecture notes used by George Paterson. Each volume has an engraved title-page dated 'Joh. Le Mair. 1755' with the MS. title written in on the centre panel.

The vast majority of the material relates to Dent's research and clinical interests and falls into four main categories: correspondence files; files created around the publication of papers; lecture notes and symposium papers; and case/research notes. There are also smaller quantities dealing with other aspects of his career, such as the administration of UCH Metabolic Ward. The papers thus reflect most of Dent's scientific and clinical interests. This research is mainly represented by the abstracted documentation which he kept with drafts of his published papers (see section E.1) and also by correspondence about cases and clinical case notes (see section C.5). To a lesser degree they also illustrate the work at the laboratory bench which underpinned much of this research. For example, a file of unidentified paper chromatograms has been preserved (C.2/10) to illustrate one of Dent's methods of working, as described by his colleague, Heathcote, and quoted in the Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 1978: 'Paper chromatograms were not to be thrown away. They were filed and, since the colours faded, the outline of each spot was drawn in and the intensity of the colour was indicated by a number.' The way in which Dent compiled a large series of files around drafts of scientific papers also illustrates the importance of the published paper to him as a stage in the research process. An incomplete collection of reprints of Dent's published papers may be found in section E.2 of the collection.

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.

The collection provides good documentation of many aspects of McIlwain's career and his contribution to the development of neurochemistry in the UK and internationally.

Section A, Biographical, brings together obituaries, curricula vitae and bibliographies, and material relating to the various stages of McIlwain's scientific career, especially in the 1930s and 1940s, his appointment to the Biochemistry Chair at the Institute of Psychiatry in 1954 and the symposium held in his honour on his retirement in 1980. The section also presents a significant body of material relating to McIlwain's undergraduate studies at King's College, University of Durham, including essays and notebooks.

Section B, Institute of Psychiatry, is principally papers relating to the activities of McIlwain's own Department of Biochemistry and especially its teaching programme in neurochemistry. There is also material relating to various government and University of London enquiries into medical education.

Section C, Research, includes copies of McIlwain's M.Sc. and Ph.D. theses, notes, drafts and reports for early work in the 1930s and correspondence 'from the Lab' for the 1930s and 1940s.

Section D, Publications, lectures and broadcast, is the largest in the collection. It presents significant documentation, especially correspondence, relating to his textbook Biochemistry and the central nervous system which went through five editions, 1955-1985, and important editorial correspondence for the Biochemical Journal (member of the Editorial Board, 1946-1950), Biochemical Pharmacology and Journal of Neurochemistry. There are also drafts for lectures and seminars for scientific audiences in the UK and abroad, principally from the 1960s onwards.

Section E, Societies and organisations, documents McIlwain's involvement with a number of UK and international bodies including the Biochemical Society, the International Brain Research Organisation and the International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN) of which he was a founder member and from 1984 'Historian' of the Society with responsibility for its archives.

Section F, Visits and conferences, covers the period 1947-1993 and is of particular interest for its documentation of the historical sessions which McIlwain organised at ISN meetings.

Section G, Correspondence, presents an alphabetical sequence of McIlwain's correspondence including significant exchanges with a number of distinguished mentors and contemporaries such as G.R. Clemo, F. Dickens, K.A.C. Elliott, P.G. Fildes, S.S. Kety, H.A. Krebs, Derek Richter and F.L. Rose, and a chronological sequence of shorter scientific correspondence covering the period 1938-1992.

There is also an index of correspondents.

Sargant was an outspoken supporter and practitioner of what he termed the 'practical rather than philosophical approaches' to the treatment of mental illness, pioneering and publicising various physical treatments and vociferously opposing the use of psychoanalytic techniques. The majority of the collection consists of his writings, both published and unpublished, supplemented by a small quantity of correspondence and other material. In addition, the collection contains clinical records for about 500 cases from Sutton Emergency Hospital in the 1940s. As well as covering clinical subjects (in Sections D, E, and F) and Sargant's views on the practice of psychiatry in general (Section B), the collection also contains material relating to his interest in the related issues of religious conversion and brainwashing (Section G).

Papers of James T Duncan, 1920, contain handwritten research or lecture notes titled 'Principles of standardisation of agglutinable cultures' and include relevant scientific tables and diagrams.

Papers of Sir Philip Henry Manson-Bahr, 1925-1966, comprise correspondence relating to the 17th edition of Manson's Tropical Diseases, an important textbook on the subject, with Charles Wilcocks, President of Royal Society of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine, and relating to various matters including his retirement, the Manson lecture, the memorial to Sir Patrick Manson in Aberdeenshire; personal file including information on his work at the School and retirement and a copy of the publication The story of malaria: the drama and actors.

The archive consists of papers relating to the Guildhouse Fellowship and lecture tours of Dr Agnes Maude Royden. It includes Guildhouse Fellowship newsletters (1941, 1942, 1950) and lists of key events and speakers at the Guildhouse (1921-1940). Detailed letters from Daisy Dobson report home to friends and colleagues on travels in the United States of America and India during Royden's world lecture tour (1928). As well as providing information on Royden's schedule, the letters describe the landscape, people and culture of the countries they visit and comment with humour and frustration on the practicalities of their trip. A later letter describes sea travel during the Second World War for Royden's lecture tour of the United States of America (1941-1942).

The collection contains letters from Isabella Bird to a friend, 1868; to Captain Coburn, 1879; to Mrs Waller, 1879; to Miss Gilpin, 1887; to Mrs Smith, 1887; to unnamed man, 1889; to unnamed man, 1889. Constance Gordon-Cumming to Miss Smith, 1897. Mary Kingsley to Mr Maclehose, 1899. Rosita Forbes to Mr Simpson, 1910. Mary Hall to Mr Simpson, 1910. Olive Macleod to Mr Simpson, 1910-1911. Edith Durham to Mr Christy, 1912-1914. Freya Stark to Lady Currie, 1933-1936. Evelyn Cheesman to Miss P Strachey, 1936; Note by Miss Strachey introducing Miss Cheesman's lectures; letter from Miss D Steiner about programme of lectures.

Lecture notes on comparative embryology, psychology and prehistory, Keble College, Oxford, early 1920s.

Papers of Frederick William George Wolff entilted, 'Research in medicine in North America. Some impressions of a study and lecture tour undertaken between March and June 1958.'

Notes on Herman Boerhaave's lectures and material extracted from his publications, with some material by others, 18th century.

Reports of Thomas Lauder Brunton's lectures on therapeutics and notes from a lecture on chloroform with three fragments of lectures on eye affections, on the effects of alcohol, and the effect of drugs on the brain given at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 1892-[1895].

Lectures on inflammation and pathology by Maurizio Bufalini, 1836-1853.

Notes of lectures by Giuseppe Canziani, on veterinary medicine, anatomy, physiology and phrenology, [1840-1845].

Notes of lectures in Latin at the University of Louvain on Astronomy, Physics, Metaphysics, and Ethics: taken down by Carel Coppieters. The first three volumes are extra-illustrated with engraved folding plates of scientific diagrams, figures, etc.: there are also a few pen-drawn figures. Vol. I Tractatus de Astronomia Sphaerica et theoretica, nec non de Geographia (1 l. + 131 pp. + 49 ll.). II Tractatus de motu, dictante pro parte Domino Ledoux...pro parte Domino Wittenbercq (i.e. Louis Joseph Wittenbercq [1767-1798]) (121 pp. + lxiv pp.). III Tractatus de elementis, igne, aëre et acqua (50 pp. + 6 ll. + 64 pp. + 11 ll. + 37 pp. + xxiv pp.). IV Tractatus de metaphysica, dictante D. Verrueghen (45 pp. + 55 pp. + 60 pp. + lxiv pp.). V Philosophia moralis (59 pp. + xviii pp.). Produced in Louvain.

Clinical lectures by Andrew Duncan delivered at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and lectures on the theory and practice of medicine: notes taken by students, 1775-1787. Produced in Edinburgh.

'Cours de pathologie interne, générale et particulière, par M. Fouquier, médecin à l'Hôpital de la Charité de Paris', a student's notes of lectures, probably incomplete, as 'Fin du second cahier' is written at the end of Vol. II. Produced in Paris, 1814-1815.

'Dictata in Chemiam', notes taken down by George Paterson [1734-1817] of Lectures at Leyden University. Produced in Leyden.

Anonymous student's lecture notes, the manuscripts, written largely in the same hand, have been assigned to Estienne Louis Geoffroy. Produced in Paris, [1760].

Two versions of lecture notes given by Carl von Goldburg and Wilhelm Anton Brauczek entitled "Tractatus in universam Aristotelis philosophiam ad mentem Doctoris Subtilis Joannis Duns Scoti", produced in Prague, 1661-1665.

Lectures in Midwifery by William Lowder, 1780-1805, in some cases collaborating with John Haighton.

Notes of lectures (on medical jurisprudence), on cases, and on diseases such as material on digestion and on hip disease, 1877-[1885].

Papers of Jean Nicholas Marjolin and his son René Marjolin, 1849-1894, including notes of Jean Nicolas Marjolin's lectures, by a medical student; letters from René Marjolin to his friend Edmond Dascols relating mainly to personal affairs, and the health of the Dascols family (with advice on cholera and other maladies) and letters from Paris at the time of the siege and the Commune, 1870-1871, when René Marjolin was active in treating the wounded prior to his arrest as a Bonapartist agent.

Praxeos medicinae libri II-IV. Authore D. D. Paschale Pisciottano, ad usum Joachimi de Angelis. Lecture-notes of a student at Naples University, of which Vol. I is wanting. The lectures are all by Pisciottanus except the second in Book IV 'De morbis venereis', which is by Francesco Dolce: and the last of the same Book 'De herniis', given by Agnello Firelli. Contents: Praxeos liber II. De morbis pectoris (1 l. + 37 ff. + 3 ll. (last 2 bl.)). III. De morbis abdominis (1 l. + 144 ff. + 4 bl. ll.). IV. De febribus. De morbis venereis. De morbis mulierum. De morbis infantum. De herniis (3 ll. + 269 ff. + 1 bl. l.). Produced in Naples.

Notes of Rodati's lectures compiled by students, c 1830, produced in Bologna.

Two volumes: 'Institutiones medicae' and 'Institutiones medicae practicae'. The spines are inscribed 'Lib. I' and 'Lib II' in wrong order, as the 'Institutiones medicae practicae' labelled 'Lib I' should follow the 'Institutiones'. Notes of a course of lectures by an anonymous student: the date 1705 is found on p. 37 of the second volume. The text has been identified by comparison with MS. 4614, which contains a somewhat abbreviated version of the present first volume. Produced in Rome.

Notes from Giuseppe Sisco's lectures on surgery including 'Lezzioni di chirurgia' with Antonio Trasmondi, 1834.

Systematic Surgery lectures by Archibald Adam Scott Skirving taken by Mul Raj Soni [ -1948]. Produced in Edinburgh.

Notes of lectures on the Practice of Physic, taken down by Albert Wilson [1854-1928]. The notes are written round pasted-in cuttings from private proofs of lectures, 'for the use of Dr. Grainger Stewart's Class of Practice of Physic'. Produced in Edinburgh.

'Trattato di chirurgia'. Lettered on spine 'Instituzioni Chirurgiche': an unnamed student's notes of lectures taken from the lectures Gaetano Termanini. Produced in Bologna, c 1815.

Lezioni di Clinica Medica, per l'anno scolastico 1807-1808, 1808-1809. On the fly-leaf of the first volume is the following inscription: 'Queste lezioni di Clinica Medica/che il Professore Testa/diceva/Le raccolse e scrisse di mano propria/un mio compagno di studio/il quale/dappoi per bisogno vendeva/chi li compri/fu il Dottor Vincenzo Minelli/chi vendette/Alessandrini/[Signature of Minelli]/Sant' Agata Bolognese, 16 Gennaio 1876/Visto autografa la soprascritta/firma del Sig. Dr. Vincenzo Minelli/Il Sindaco/[Signature of Antonio Cave, Lodi, Asst. delegato. Official Stamp of the Munioipio di Sant' Agata. Bologna]. Produced in Bologna.

Notes taken from the lectures of Luca Tozzi on 'Anathomica synthesis, Anthropologia selecta, Synthesis geneanthropologica and Liber practices', c 1685.

Notebooks of Walter Pickett Turner, 1887-c 1910, containing lectures and observations on tuberculosis: with other notes on medical and scientific subjects, drafts of letters, etc. Author's holograph MSS.

Student notes taken from Gabriel François Venel's lectures including on materia medica and chemistry, 1761-1796.

Notes of lectures given at Naples University, all apparently taken by the same student, c 1750.

Holograph notes taken down by [Sir] Charles Blagden [1748-1820] when a student at Edinburgh University, from Thomas Young's lectures on midwifery .

Lecture notes and other papers of Sir Hermann Gollancz including notes from lectures on the philosophy of mind, given by George Croom Robertson (1842-1892) at University College, London; notes from lectures at University College, London, comprising lectures on applied mathematics by William Kingdom Clifford (1845-1879), and on physics by George Carey Foster. Also included are notes on the history of the Jews in Sicily; notes on aspects of Jewish religion and theology. Signature inside the front cover, 'H Gollancz, Jews' College' and medical prescriptions written for Sir Hermann Gollancz, and miscellaneous medical ephemera.

Notebooks and diary including notebooks containing notes taken from lectures on physics and electricity given at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, illustrated with sketches and diagrams, 1902; pilotage notes, 1907; Diary while serving with HMS VIRAGO, a destroyer on the China station, including visits to Hong Kong, Japan and elsewhere in the Far East, 1908 and notebooks containing lecture notes on electricity and mechanics, illustrated with small sketches and diagrams. Inscriptions 'J E L Bashford, HMS Vernon, Aug. 1911.' MS. 5740 also includes notes on mine-sweeping and on torpedoes fired, 1916-1918.

Microfilm of the letters and papers by or relating to Thomas Hodgkin MD (1798-1865) and his extended family, including his brother John Hodgkin junior (1800-1875) and the latter's father-in-law Luke Howard (1772-1864).

Unpublished lectures, articles and reports from Godber's time as Chief Medical Officer onwards form the bulk of this collection, but his wider career is represented by such papers as a draft of his 1944 'Hospital Survey of Sheffield and East Midlands Area' and published articles spanning over 50 years from 1942 to 1995. Although the collection does not include Godber's official papers from his various appointments or his personal papers, it nevertheless conveys a strong impression of his personality, energy and breadth of interests throughout his career. Godber's papers at the Ministry of Health and the Department of Health and Social Security were left almost entirely for his successors, to be transferred as appropriate to the Public Record Office.

Archive, 1754 to date, of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA; formerly the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, or Society of Arts), created by the Society in the course of its activities, and comprising records of its administration (Ref: AD), and records of its activities and events (Ref: PR), also including some printed material dating back to 1634.

Administrative records of the Society include:

Records of Miscellaneous Committees to discuss the programme and administration of the Society, including the Committee of Correspondence and Papers and the Committee of Miscellaneous Matters, 1754-1848 (Ref: AD.MA/104).
Records of the Society from 1754, later the Council (established 1845) (Ref: AD.MA/100).

Records concerning Chairmen of Council (from 1846) and Council membership (Ref: AD.MA/102).

Records of Secretaries (administrative head of the Society), after 1994 known as the Director (Ref: AD.MA/101).

Records of Presidents (Ref: AD.MA/103).

Records of Membership/Fellowship, relating to subscribers to the Society, originally termed 'members', referred to as 'Fellows' from 1908 (Ref: AD.MA/900). (The archive does not include extensive biographical information on RSA Fellows, although dates of membership of Fellows are usually recorded.)
Records concerning the Society's House in John Adam Street from its design and construction by the Adam Brothers, including correspondence, papers, notes, leases and other legal documents, relating to administration, management, alteration and repair of the building (Ref: AD.MA/300).

Records of various House Committees set up at different times to look at the building, its use, function, administration and management (Ref: AD.MA/305).

Accounting and financial records produced by various committees including the Accounts Committee and Finance and General Purposes Committee (Ref: AD.MA/400).

Annual Reports recording the Society's activities over the year, initially within the Journal (from 1852), but later as a separate publication (Ref: AD.MA/701).

Records relating to general lectures (developed from the 1850s when the Society ceased the award of premiums for inventions), with correspondence mainly concerning administrative arrangements for speakers and publication of their texts (in the RSA Journal) and suggestions for topics for discussion (Ref: AD.MA/800).

Records relating to the RSA Silver Medal awarded annually for the most interesting lecture over the preceding year (Ref: AD.MA/803).

Records relating to production of the Journal and other publicity, promotion and communication (Ref: AD.MA/203).

Donations and collections, comprising objects and artefacts donated to or bought by the Society (Ref: AD.MA/204).

Records of the Society's activities (such as award schemes, exhibitions, conferences, seminars and lectures), including joint initiatives with a range of other organisations, include:

Guard Books (30 volumes), 1754-1770, containing correspondence and papers about all Society activities and committees, on a range of subjects (Ref: PR.GE/110).

Manuscript versions of the Society's Transactions, comprising draft versions of the printed Transactions, including drawings, plans and diagrams in support of claims for premiums and awards. Also general correspondence to the Society on various 19th century campaigns, conferences and committees, covering subjects including lectures (arrangements for dates, speakers, chairmen, participants; suggestions for subjects, submission of lecture texts, corrections to texts, requests for tickets/programmes, acceptances, apologies for non-attendance etc), examinations (requests for syllabus, copies of certificates, programmes, rules; complaints, arrangements, agreements with colleges, details of examiners etc), membership (requests for information, applications, replies to circulars, notes accompanying subscriptions, resignations, complaints), Council/committee chairmen (intention to attend meetings, acceptances, general arrangements for meetings, requests for information, dates, times etc), Journal (receipt/non-receipt of copies, reciprocal arrangements with other libraries, requests for extra copies, corrections to proofs, advertising, arrangements for making blocks, photogravures etc), House (letters from freeholders, solicitors, contractors; booking of rooms), staff (applications for employment, testimonials, sick notes etc - a very small number of items), general (invitations, letters from bankers, auditors, business circulars, requests for funding, suggestions for campaigns, policies, events etc), and including artistic copyright, uniform musical pitch, domestic economy, art workmanship, musical training, food committees, patent law reform, prevention of fires in theatres and education exhibitions (Ref: PR.GE/118-19, 121).

Records relating to Premium and Programme committees (Ref: PR.GE/112); Albert Medal (founded 1863) (Ref: PR.GE/101); Memorial Tablet (blue plaque) scheme (founded 1866) (PR.GE/122); War Memorials Advisory Council (established 1944, disbanded 1948), concerning memorials of the Second World War (Ref: PR.GE/117); Exhibition of Exhibitions (1951), concurrent with the Festival of Britain, to commemorate earlier ground-breaking Society exhibitions on contemporary art (1760), industrial design (1847-1850), photography (1852), industry (1761), and the first international exhibition (1851) (Ref: PR.GE/102); R B Bennett Commonwealth Prize (endowed 1944) for outstanding contribution to the promotion of the arts, agriculture, industries and commerce of the Overseas Empire (Ref: PR.GE/116); Commonwealth Committee (Ref: PR.GE/113); proposals and planning for the Festival of Britain (1951) (Ref: PR.GE/103); events for the RSA Bicentenary (1954) (Ref: PR.GE/107); Benjamin Franklin Medal (instituted 1956) (Ref: PR.GE/100); Trusts, bequests, fundraising and development (Ref: PR.GE/111).

Records relating to manufacture and commerce, including the Paris Exhibitions (1844-1900) (Ref: PR.MC/109); Great Exhibition (1851) (Ref: PR.MC/107); International Exhibition (1862) (Ref: PR.MC/108); Chicago Exhibition (World's Columbian Exposition, 1893), British Section (Ref: PR.MC/112); Industry Year/Industry Matters (1986) (Ref: PR.MC/100); Tomorrow's Company (begun 1994), concerning the role of business in a changing world (Ref: PR.MC/115); Redefining Work (launched 1995) (Ref: PR.MC/116); Forum for Ethics in the Workplace (1997) (Ref: PR.MC/117); Manufacturing, Wealth Creation and the Economy (1998) (Ref: PR.MC/118).

Records of subject-based standing committees set up by the Society from 1754 to judge awards and premiums in particular areas, including minutes and correspondence about awards and attendance at and structure of committees: Agriculture (Ref: PR.MC/103), Chemistry (Ref: PR.MC/105), Colonies and Trade (Ref: PR.MC/104), Manufactures (Ref: PR.MC/102), Mechanics (Ref: PR.MC/101), and Polite Arts - including prints, drawings and other artwork submitted for award (Ref: PR.AR/103).

Records relating to fine and applied arts, including exhibition of works of Ancient and Medieval Art (1847-1850) (Ref: PR.AR/105); exhibition of the works of William Etty and William Mulready (1848-1849), including general correspondence, printed matter, catalogues, press cuttings, tickets and notices about mounting of exhibitions, and attendance (Ref: PR.AR/112); British Art in Industry Exhibition (1935) to publicise good design in articles of everyday use (Ref: PR.AR/101); Humorous Art Exhibition (1949-1950) (Ref: PR.AR/100); Art for Architecture scheme (from 1990), aiming to enhance the urban environment by encouraging cross disciplinary approaches to building and landscape projects, and associated with the Jerwood Art for Architecture Award (introduced 1994) (Ref: PR.AR/110); Shakespeare in Schools (begun 1992), a pilot project to introduce Shakespeare to children (Ref: PR.AR/108).

Records relating to promotion of design, including the Design Bursaries Board, Design Committee, the Design Board, Design Advisory Group and Design Section (Ref: PR.DE/106-7); Industrial Art Bursaries Competition (started 1924), succeeded by the Design Bursaries Competition, Competition of Industrial Designs and Student Design Awards (Ref: PR.DE/100); Royal Designers for Industry (RDI) scheme (created 1936) to encourage a high standard of industrial design (Ref: PR.DE/101); Bicentenary Medal (instituted 1954) for exceptional influence in promoting art and design in British industry (Ref: PR.DE/102); Presidential Awards for Design Management (instituted 1964) to recognise outstanding design policy (Ref: PR.DE/105).
Records relating to education, including the RSA Examinations Board (PR.ED/100); the Education for Capability programme (initiated 1979) to counteract academic bias in British education and promote practical, organising and co-operative skills (Ref: PR.ED/107); the future of Technological Higher Education in Britain (1982), a study group to consider the problems facing Britain in the development of technological higher education (Ref: PR.ED/118); Home-School links (from 1988) (Ref: PR.ED/108); Parents in a Learning Society, a development project to involve parents in education and assess home-school work (Ref: PR.ED/104); the National Advisory Council for Careers and Educational Guidance (established 1994), to promote and advise on provision of guidance for learning and work (Ref: PR.ED/103); Education Futures (2000) (Ref: PR.ED/116).

Records relating to the environment, including the Campaign for the Preservation of Ancient Cottages (begun 1926) to protect cottage architecture, establishing a fund which purchased or restored cottages near Worthing, at Bibury, Gloucestershire, West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Chiddingstone, Kent, and elsewhere (Ref: PR.EN/100); three 'Countryside in 1970' Conferences (1963-1970) (Ref: PR.EN/104); Environment Committee (formed 1971) to identify and anticipate major environmental problems and provide a forum for discussion (Ref: PR.EN/107), which began the Pollution Abatement Technology Award Scheme (PATAS) (1983-1986) (Ref: PR.EN/103), succeeded by the Better Environment for Industry/European Better Environment Awards for Industry (BEAFI/EBEAFI) (1987-1991) (Ref: PR.EN/101); the Environment Committee's sub-committee the RSA-Cubitt Trust Panel (to 1991), devoted to the built environment and working with the Cubitt Trust to convene conferences, seminars and an annual Cubitt Lecture (Ref: PR.EN/106); After the Earth Summit - What Next? (1992) (Ref: PR.EN/128); RSA Environmental Management Awards (begun 1993) (Ref: PR.EN/102).

The Early Library (Ref: SC/EL/1-5), comprising c500 printed works collected by the Society before 1830, including journals and periodicals, and c300 pamphlets and tracts covering broad-ranging topics relating to premiums and awards of the various sectional committees (Agriculture, Polite Arts, Chemistry, Manufactures, Mechanics, and Colonies and Trade), and including extracts from proceedings of other societies and learned institutions.

Miscellaneous papers of George Colebrook including lectures and treatises on diseases, 1678-1716.