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.

Correspondence and papers of Alfred Bertheim, 1879-1914 including certificates, notes and letters to Bertheim from various correspondents, including Paul Ehrlich and Sahachiro Hata, Japanese bacteriologist, who also worked with Ehrlich. With drafts of out-letters.

Ledgers recording accounts for medical treatment and drugs dispensed, 1744-1799. Patients included, as well as private individuals, the Oxfordshire and Herefordshire militias, the poor of various parishes, and the local bridewell. On the front covers are annotations by Dr B E A Batt and his father Dr C D Batt, including the names of Edward Batt (1741-1797), surgeon and apothecary, and Augustine William Batt (1774-1847), MRCS Eng. Both practised in Witney.

Notes of Charles Barbeyrac's practice taken chiefly by his students. Some case histories are included in MS.7126.

Reports and correspondence relating to the development of the drug Balsalazide, for treatment of people suffering from ulcerative colitis, 1979-1991.

Bad trip to Edgewood consists of, interview transcripts, research files and videos for a television documentary on US Army testing of chemical and biological warfare agents on human 'guinea pigs' between 1955 - 1975, and includes files of mainly photocopied documents, reports, scientific articles, letters and newspapers articles, with some printed brochures, as well as videotapes. There is also a video copy of Bad trip to Edgewood which was produced by Michael Bilton, Yorkshire Television, and broadcast as a First Tuesday film in March 1993.

The files focus on secret projects carried out by the US Army Chemical Corps at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood, Maryland USA, between 1955-1975, in which US Army volunteers were used to test the effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), benzilates such as BZ (3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, also known a QNB) and glycolates.

The testing programs were suspended in 1975 when information about them became public. A number of volunteers claimed to have suffered long term mental health effects from the tests. They also claim they were not informed at the time of immediate or long term effects of the agents tested. In 1977 US Army notified 686 volunteers who has been tested with LSD and conducted a follow up study of their health. The LSD follow-up study report released in 1980 found 'the majority of subjects evaluated did not appear to have sustained any significant damage from their participation in the LSD experiments'.

There are notes and transcripts of interviews conducted with former US Army personnel who were volunteers in the research programmes, individuals involved in the running testing programs, medical experts and lawyers.

Several files relate to particular law suits including that of Sgt James B Stanley, US Army, volunteer at Edgewood during 1958. In 1977 he was informed by the army that he had been given LSD as part of the testing program. In 1987 a controversial judgement by the US Supreme Court found against Stanley, effectually granting immunity from liability for money damages for all federal officials who intentionally violate the constitutional rights of those serving in the military.

Other notable cases frequently mentioned in the files include that of Frank Olson and Harold Blauer. Dr Frank R Olson, US Army scientist at Fort Detrick, apparently suicided, on 28 November 1953. In 1975 the Commission on CIA Activities within the United States (the Rockefeller Commission) revealed Olson had been given LSD without his knowledge while attending a meeting of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) personnel eight days before his death. A civilian, Harold R Blauer died on 8 Jan 1953 after being given a lethal injection of Experimental Agent 1298 supplied by the US Army Chemical Corps to the New York State Psychiatric Institute where he was a patient. A 1975 Senate investigation revealed the facts of his death. Files also contain material on bacteriological testing by the Army and the CIA carried out in Washington DC, Florida, San Francisco, and New York. Particular reference is made to the case of Edward Nevin, a civilian, who died on 1 Nov 1950 in San Francisco as a result of a rare bacterial infection Serratia Marcescens, which coincided with a significant and unexplained outbreak of this infection between Oct 1950 and Feb 1951. In 1976 it was revealed that the US Army had conducted bacteriological warfare experiments with Serratia Marcescens over San Francisco Bay during September 1950.

There is a small amount of material relating to the role of American Citizens for Honesty in Government, a Church of Scientology sponsored organisation who campaigned during 1979 for a full investigation of the testing and storage of BZ and compensation for volunteers suffering long term effects from testing of the substance, and to chemical testing carried out in the UK at Porton Down, Wiltshire, UK and production of chemical agents at Nancekuke Base, Cornwall, and Anglo American cooperation in this area.

These papers comprise the manuscript collection of F[rederick] Bacon Frank (1827-1911). They include a medieval medical miscellany (MS.550), material by or relating to the 17th century Yorkshire physician Nathaniel Johnston (MSS.3083-3086 and 6080), and some Bacon family administrative documents (MS.6079). One item relating to Nathaniel Johnston that did not form part of the Bacon Frank collection has been catalogued with it for convenience (MS.3086).

Records of B Hooper and Company, manufacturing chemists, including ledger, order, invoices, prescription books, formula book and labels for products.

Video cassette tapes accumulated by the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, relating to the history of anaesthesia in the 20th century. The tapes, made between 1982-2000, with the original films dating from 1916 to 1998, include some compilations, and comprise some black and white and silent material but focus predominantly on the latter part of the period. The subjects cover various anaesthetic drugs, equipment and techniques, and related subjects including midwifery, dentistry, paediatrics, emergency medicine, resuscitation, artificial respiration and intensive care, and the locations include various hospitals, and military situations. A series of oral history interviews feature eminent anaesthetists talking about their work. Some of the videos were made for conferences or training purposes, and some relate to the Association of Anaesthetists itself, including a video of the opening ceremony of no 9 Bedford Square.

Archive, 1932-2002, of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI), also including some material relating to the history of anaesthesia dating back to 1848:

Council minutes, 1932-1995; Annual General Meeting minutes, 1932-1988, 1997, and various other papers, 1934-1995 (with gaps); Advisory Committee minutes, 1978-1984, and papers, 1987; papers of various other committees, including the Safety Committee, Education and Research Committee, Archives, Library and Museum Committee, International Relations Committee, and Finance Committee.

Records of the Group of Anaesthetists in Training (GAT), including yearbook, 1993, 1995, 1997; GAT committee election papers, 1998-1999; circulated papers concerning 'New Deal Working Patterns', 1997.

List of Linkmen, 1995-1997; Linkmen's newsletter, 1995-1997, 1999.

Papers on constitutional matters, including transcript of grant of arms, 1945; constitution, 1962; amendments to rules, 1971 and undated; report on the constitution of the Council, 1974; printed Memorandum of Association [after 1981] and Memorandum and Articles of Association, 1985; copy of coat of arms, 1991; papers on composition of Council, its sub-committees and working parties, 1992-1993; Standing Committee in the Republic of Ireland constitution, 1997.

Album containing photographs and obituaries of Presidents, 1932-2002; Presidents' newsletters, 1970-1971, 1978; miscellaneous Presidential correspondence, including letters from HRH Princess Margaret (Patron of AAGBI), 1990-1998; list of Presidents (1932-1992), 1993; undated album containing photographs and biographies of officers; papers relating to elections, 1984-1998.

Annual reports, 1933-1999 (with gaps), including lists of members to 1969.

Papers relating to membership, including material on Fellowships, 1946-1949, 1953, honorary membership, 1987-1996, and subscription rates, [1991]-1995; lists of members, 1976-1995 (with gaps).

Accounts, 1983; directors' report and accounts, 1987-1995 (with gaps); financial papers, including charitable donations, 1991, 1995-1996.

Printed or typescript reports of the AAGBI, its Working Parties, or Irish Standing Committee, 1963-1997, on subjects including staffing and manpower, anaesthetists' workload, stress, the Lewin Report (1970) on the organisation and staffing of operating departments, provision of anaesthetic services and accommodation, private fees, dental anaesthetics and anaesthesia in general practice, day case anaesthesia, paediatric anaesthetic practice, management of trauma, intensive care, management of pain, use of drugs, anaphylactic shock, HIV and other viruses, anaesthetic equipment, recovery facilities, standards of monitoring, and other professional techniques and practices.

Publications of AAGBI, comprising guidelines, booklets and leaflets (largely aimed at Anaesthetists), 1975-1998, on subjects including anaesthetists' workloads, career appointments, professional references, fees for and conduct of private anaesthetic practice, anaphylaxis under general anaesthesia, prescription of Noscapine, consent forms, checklist for anaesthetic machines, standards of monitoring, obstetrics, intensive care, AIDS and Hepatitis B, and other professional matters; also including some information leaflets on anaesthesia aimed at the general public.

Programme of the first Scientific Meeting, 1957; papers on the Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM), 1991-1997; papers on the Winter Scientific Meeting (WSM), 1992-1997; papers, including programmes and minutes, relating to various other AAGBI meetings, seminars, training events, lectures, dinners and other events, 1958-1998, including some joint events with other bodies, and some events relating to the history of anaesthesia rather than its current practice. Papers of the GAT ASM and annual Linkman Conference, 1995-1998, including some sound and video recordings, 1997. Ephemera and other material relating to events, including congratulatory address on the silver jubilee from the Finnish Society of Anaesthetists, 1957; historical note on AAGBI for the golden jubilee, 1982; diamond jubilee flag, 1992; ephemera relating to various social events, 1967-1998; menus for AAGBI Ancient Brethren Luncheon, 1995-1997; visitors' books, 1951-1972, 1984.

Various papers relating to honours and prizes awarded by the AAGBI, 1946-1998, including the Sir Ivan Magill Gold Medal and John Snow Silver Medal, John Snow lecture, and Pask Certificate of Honour; undergraduate prize essays, 1987-1997 (with gaps); entries for the AAGBI Safety Prize, 1995, 1997; reports and papers of recipients of travel grants and scholarships, 1997-1998.

Papers, 1984-1987, including correspondence, plans, press cuttings and other printed material, relating to the appeal for funds, acquisition and opening of the new AAGBI headquarters at no 9 Bedford Square, London, including material relating to the earlier history of the premises.

Papers, 1953-1995, relating to the King collection of historic apparatus, including its acquisition, and to the administration of the AAGBI museum, archives and library, including advertisements for museum exhibitions on the history of anaesthesia, 1991-1997 (with gaps), and offprint of K Bryn Thomas's 'The A Charles King collection of early anaesthetic apparatus', Anaesthesia, vol 25 no 4, October 1970.

Papers, 1947-1999, on professional issues accumulated by the AAGBI, relating to anaesthetics but also touching on wider medical issues, including papers of AAGBI working parties on professional topics, and also papers and publications, for instance reports and discussion documents, produced by government bodies (e.g. NHS Executive and Audit Commission) and by other medical organisations, including other professional bodies representing anaesthetists in the UK and overseas, among them papers relating to the implications of the creation of a College of Anaesthetists and the structure of anaesthetic organisation, 1974-1979.

Various papers relating to international conferences, 1978-1999, including joint meetings of the AAGBI.

Papers, 1857-1998, relating to the history of anaesthetics, including material on eminent anaesthetists, such as Sir Ivan Magill, John Snow and Sir Robert Macintosh, and the restoration of graves of some eminent anaesthetists; anniversaries in the history of anaesthesia including the 150th anniversary of the first public administration of ether at Massachusetts General Hospital (1846); the history of anaesthetic apparatus; a letter written at Lucknow, India, concerning an amputation, 1857; memoirs including Vernon Hall's Reminiscences and Anaesthesia in India 1939-1946 (privately published, 1997); published items including copies of articles on chloroform and vinic ether, 1875, and vapour of aether, 1933, and a facsimile edition, 1996, of Allen & Hanburys Ltd catalogue of anaesthetic and oxygen apparatus (1938); material relating to the history of the AAGBI, including its coat of arms.

Miscellaneous printed items relating to other organisations, 1987-1997, including the Pain Society.

Copy of a manuscript volume containing pharmaceutical recipes according to the teachings of Najm Aldean Ayyûb by his student [Abu Muhammed Abdullah Ahmad Dija]. The manuscript is dated 890 in the Islamic calendar (1469 in the Gregorian calendar), this is thought to be the date of the original manuscript of which this is a copy.