Although Barlow is best known for his original researches on infantile scurvy, there is very little material relating to that subject in the collection. There are manuscript drafts of his address to the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh and his Bradshaw Lecture on infantile scurvy (BAR/E1-2), but the bulk of the clinical and scientific component of the papers relates to other matters, particularly Raynaud's disease and erythromelalgia, diseases to which Barlow turned his attention later in his career.

Among Barlow's clinical papers is a notebook recording minutes of a 'Clinical Club', 1875-77 (BAR/D.2), whose members included, apart from Barlow himself, Sidney Coupland, Rickman Godlee, William Smith Greenfield, Robert Parker, and William Allen Sturge.

Most of Barlow's private patients' records have not survived, though there is an index to his private patients' books, covering the years 1876-1918 (BAR/F.1).

Scientific and clinical matters are also discussed in Barlow's correspondence, but again this is relatively thin for the period when he was active in research. Barlow's non-family correspondence has clearly been heavily weeded: there are few letters from patients, with the exception of some prominent individuals, such as Mary Curzon, wife of Lord Curzon, Randall Davidson, archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Salisbury and Lord Selborne, and in general it seems that while letters from important or well-known figures have survived those from individuals deemed less important have been discarded. Significant numbers of letters remain however from several of Barlow's regular correspondents, such as the poet, Robert Bridges, Lord Bryce, and William Page Roberts, dean of Salisbury, as well as medical figures like Sir William Jenner and Sir James Reid.

Barlow's personal papers and family correspondence have survived in bulk and form a rich source of material for both his private and family life, and his public career. There are travel journals and sketchbooks from his earlier years, mainly documenting visits to the Continent, 1869-83; correspondence with his parents, brother, wife and children, 1852-1940, including letters written by Barlow from Balmoral, where he served as royal physician intermittently between 1897 and 1899, an eye-witness account of the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 (BAR/B.2/4), and letters and telegrams from court in 1902 during the crisis of Edward VII's appendectomy; and commonplace and scrapbooks compiled in retirement, 1920-37. Also from this period are various temperance notes and addresses.

The archive also comprises letters and papers of Barlow's parents, 1842-87; of Barlow's wife, Ada, including letters from her brother and sisters in India, 1858-80, and to her daughter Helen studying in Darmstadt, Germany, 1905-6; of Barlow's sons, Alan, Thomas and Basil, including letters from the last-named while serving on the Western Front, 1916-17; and notably of his daughter Helen, including correspondence with Archbishop and Mrs (later Lady) Davidson, 1910-35, and letters from Sir John Rose Bradford and his wife while serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps in France, 1914-19. Helen Barlow's papers also include records of three charities with which she was associated: the University College Hospital Ladies Association, 1900-50, the Southwark Boys Aid Association, 1914-36, and the Quinn Square [Southwark] Social Centre Society, c. 1935-1951. Finally there is a handful of letters to Andrew Barlow, Sir Thomas's grandson, mainly relating to articles he wrote about his grandfather, 1955-81.

MSS. 5958-5963 comprise journals of A B Barton, mainly written while he was a medical officer in the service of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P & O), 1853-1858. They cover his journeys between Bombay, Singapore and Hong Kong; to the Crimea; and to the Far East. They include descriptions of the progress of the Chinese rebellion (MS. 5959), tending to and transporting the sick and wounded from Balaclava to Scutari (MS. 5960), and his shipwreck off the coast of Ceylon, together with General Henry Havelock, on the steamer Erin (MS. 5962). Some are manuscript or typescript copies. MSS. 7589-7594 comprise journals and sketches mainly relating to the Yangtse expedition, led by Captain Thomas W Blakiston, on which Barton served as a medical officer, 1861. One journal, MS. 7591, also records the end of the expedition and Barton's journey to Ceylon via Singapore, with entries on hunting expeditions in Ceylon. The journals are all fair copies. MS. 7592 comprises a narrative of the Yangste expedition read by Barton to the Royal Geographical Society, based on his journals. MS. 7593 is a series of mainly topographical illustrations relating to the expedition, comprising sketches by Barton, plus photographs and engravings based on other sketches by Barton, some of which were used to illustrate Five Months on the Yang-Tse by Thomas W Blakiston (London: John Murray, 1862). MS. 7594 comprises later papers of Brian M Gould relating to Barton and his journals, 1967 and n.d.

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.

The majority of the collection is made up of journals kept by Buckle during the years 1866-1870, during which he travelled to South America, South Africa and Australia (there are also periods during which he was stationed at Portsmouth). There are some lacunae in the sequence of diaries. There is also one autograph album kept by Buckle relating partly to his own affairs (his application to become House Surgeon at the West Norfolk and Lynn Hospital, 1863-1864) but also including older material predating his birth.

The collection contains papers, correspondence and diaries of Sir John Burdon-Sanderson and also papers of his wife Lady Burdon-Sanderson. Some of the papers include notes and drafts of lectures and addresses. There are also papers that were used for a Memoir of John Burdon-Sanderson, begun by Lady Burdon-Sanderson and completed by Burdon-Sanderson's niece and nephew, Elizabeth Sanderson Haldane and John Scott Haldane (published in Oxford, 1911).

Two journals of Sir James Clark, 1847-68, including notes on Clark's travel with the Royal family to Scotland and Ireland.

Papers and war medals of Sir John Josias Conybeare, 1915-1972. Includes his First World War diary, 1915; Military medals and orders awarded to him during the First and the Second World Wars, including the Military Cross and KBE insignia, 1915-1945; Medical notebook, 1916-24; Lecture notes on the subject of Aviation Medicine, n.d., c.1939-45; and letters from William Neville Mann (1911-2001) to the College offering the medical notebook and lecture notes for the College's archives, 1970-72.

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.

Much of the collection is made up of diaries and notebooks relating to expeditions sent to Africa by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to study diseases such as malaria and trypanosomiasis. From Todd's subsequent career there is also material on journeys to Western Canada to study Swamp Fever in horses and to Poland to study Typhus, some general notes on tropical diseases, a laboratory notebook on experiments with fever ticks and a paper on the Congo Free State as a political unit. The dates covered are 1901-1920. A final block of material consists of letters and loose papers including sketches, covering 1890-1949.

Sir Henry Head's papers, 1891-1909, consist of his casebooks of patients with Herpes Zoster, with sketches and photographs, chiefly from Head's work at the London Hospital, 1891-1909, and his casebooks of patients with various diseases, with sketches and charts, from his work at the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Heart and Lungs, Victoria Park, 1894.

Papers, 1573, 1763-1932, of and relating to John Theodosius Van Der Kemp, comprising pages from his diary, 1763-1791; list of patients in a Dutch military hospital, 1793-1794; miscellaneous papers, 1801-1804; correspondence, 1802-1811, the subjects including missionaries, supplies, travel, and colonial policy and administration; various undated manuscripts in his hand, including medical notes and notes for sermons; his Bible (1573), comprising the Old Testament in Hebrew and New Testament in Greek; papers relating to his family, 1816-1817, 1849, including financial affairs; miscellaneous papers on Van Der Kemp and Bethelsdorp, 1826 and undated; a manuscript on the conversion and call of Van Der Kemp to missionary work and his voyage to the Cape [early 19th century]; manuscript copy of his autobiography, apparently translated by F G Hooper, 1820; a manuscript précis and extracts from his autobiography [early 19th century]; correspondence and papers, 1921-1932 and undated, on Van Der Kemp, relating especially to A D Martin's biography Doctor Vanderkemp, and including press cuttings and a photograph of his grave.

Correspondence and papers, 1834-1950s, of and relating to David Livingstone, composed of three sub-collections.

Official London Missionary Society (LMS) papers of and relating to Livingstone, 1834-1872, largely comprise a series of over 100 original letters from Livingstone to his friends and to the LMS in connection with his work as an LMS missionary, mostly from southern Africa, the bulk dating from the 1840s and 1850s, and also include letters between other correspondents and miscellaneous other documents relating to Livingstone; 15 letters, 1852-1855, of Mary Livingstone (née Moffat), probably mostly directed to LMS officials, with typescript copies.

The LMS reference collection on Livingstone comprises typescript and manuscript copies of the LMS Livingstone letters; original letters relating to Livingstone, 1845, 1850; copies of other letters and documents by or relating to Livingstone, 1841-1881, held elsewhere, including a later copy of Livingstone's answers to LMS questions on becoming a missionary (1838); photocopy of Livingstone's Bechuana journal, 1853; two microfilms of materials on Robert and Mary Moffat and Livingstone; papers relating to Livingstone, 1850s-1950s, collected by the LMS, including copies of further LMS documents relating to him, typescripts, press cuttings and printed material on his life and fame and places associated with him.

The Bruce Livingstone collection comprises original letters, largely from Livingstone to Robert Moffat, 1844-1857, and photocopies of four letters, 1847-1853, from David Livingstone to Charles Livingstone.

MS. 3352: Copy dated c1805 of a journal of a voyage from London to Cochin-China, 11 September 1792-15 June 1793. Note on verso of leaf 2 signed 'J.B.' (Sir John Barrow (1764-1848), Secretary to the Admiralty, and founder of the Royal Geographical Society) states 'This journal was written by Lord Macartney on board the Lion merely for his own amusement and to pass away a few heavy hours on a very long sea voyage'. MS. 5746: Correspondence and papers relating to medical services in Madras, 1782-1787, comprising 2 letters to Macartney from John Ruding, surgeon, Chingleput, 1782, 1783; letter to Macartney from James Hodges, Masulipatam, 1783; letter to Macartney from George Bell (d.1789), surgeon, Tanjore, 1783; Committee Minute on a proposal by Macartney for a fixed establishment of surgeons, 1784; letter to Macartney from Terence Gahagan, surgeon, enclosing a copy of his plan for the reform of the medical department, Vellore, 1787 (the plan is addressed to Macartney's successor as Governor of Fort St George, Madras, Sir Archibald Campbell).

Louisa Martindale collection, 1872-1964. The collection consists of Section A: a little personal correspondence, papers, articles, speeches and lectures by Louisa Martindale, and some personal material including notes on the glaucoma which eventually blinded her, 1872-1960; and Section B: papers concerning the Medical Women's International Association (founded 1919) of which Miss Martindale was President from 1937 to 1947. As well as her own correspondence in this capacity, 1937-1946, there is one file of the correspondence of Mme Montreuil-Strauss, Secretary of the Medical Women's International Association at his period. (Louisa Martindale destroyed the vast bulk of her case records at the time of her retirement from practice around 1950, those remaining were destroyed by her executors after her death).

MSS.3356-3382 comprise journals and memorandum books documenting the various phases of McCormick's career, as follows: MS.3356, sketchbook relating to West Indies and South America voyages, 1824-1825; MS.3357, journal of voyage north of Spitsbergen in the Hecla, 1827; MS.3358, notes of lectures on natural philosophy by Robert Jameson (1774-1854) at Edinburgh University, 1830-1831; MS.3359, diary of voyages to West Indies and South America, 1830-1832; MS.3360, half-pay diaries (7 volumes), 1830-1838; MS.3361, diaries covering 1823-1830, fair copy; MS.3362, sketch book covering voyages in North Sea and West Indies, 1832-1833; MS.3363, diary covering blockade of Dutch coast and voyage to West Indies, 1832-1834; MS.3364, diary of a walking tour in Devon (apparently part of a longer journey of which the other journal volumes are not extant), 1834-1835; MS.3365, diary while fitting out the Antarctic expedition of the Erebus, 1839; MSS.3366-3368, diaries written during the Erebus Antarctic expedition (15 volumes), 1839-1843; MSS.3369-3370, meteorological and ornithological logs respectively of the Erebus Antarctic expedition, 1839-1843; MS.3371, half-pay diaries (4 volumes), 1843-1845; MS.3372, memorandum book on Arctic discovery, chiefly compiled during the voyage of the North Star as part of the search for Sir John Franklin, 1848-1852; MS.3373, diary while fitting out the North Star as part of the search for Sir John Franklin, 1852; MSS.3374-3380, diaries written during the voyage of the North Star as part of the search for Sir John Franklin, 1852-1853; MSS.3381-3382, meteorological tables and sketches respectively, made during the voyage of the North Star as part of the search for Sir John Franklin, 1852-1853. MS.8682 comprises loose miscellaneous material, chiefly printed, relating to various phases of McCormick's career: evolving versions of his Narrative of a Boat-Expedition up the Wellington Channel in the Year 1852 (London: Eyre and Spotteswoode, 1854), plus testimonials, printed items by other authors including the Arctic traveller Dr. Richard King, publisher's advertisements and newspapers.

Biographical material includes the draft of Mourant's autobiography, Blood and Stones published after his death in 1995, together with the correspondence and papers Mourant assembled while writing it. There is also documentation of Mourant's education at Victoria College Jersey and at Exeter College Oxford. The latter includes notes on lectures 1922 - ca 1926. Documentation of Mourant's career, honours and awards is patchy, although there is material relating to his search for employment in the early 1930s. There are pocket diaries spanning 1915-1982, with a fairly continuous sequence 1922-1961. Biographical material also includes extensive family and personal correspondence, much of which dates from or relates to the German occupation of Jersey or shortly thereafter. Mourant's other documented interests include his membership of the Methodist Church and his political affiliations, the League of Nations Union in particular.

There is a little material relating to Mourant's early career with the Geological Survey 1929-1931, miscellaneous material relating to Mourant's service with the MRC's Blood Group Reference Laboratory at the Lister Institute and the Nuffield (later Anthropological) Blood Group Centre at the Royal Anthropological Institute, London, and more extensive but uneven coverage of the Serological Population Genetics Laboratory. Although there is some documentation of the foundation of the Laboratory 1964-1965 and of its staff, the surviving material consists chiefly of correspondence and papers relating to Mourant's largely successful efforts to find continued funding for the Laboratory 1969-1977. Haematological research material, though not extensive, covers Mourant's work in a number of areas from research on blood serum in the mid-1940s to the mapping of blood groups in the 1960s and 1970s. There are early research notes, correspondence and papers relating to student and other expeditions undertaking blood group and physical anthropology research and some MRC material assembled by Mourant relating to projects in which he had an interest. The largest group of research papers, however, is maps and data produced during preparation of the second edition of The Distribution of the Human Blood Groups. There is a chronological sequence of drafts and correspondence relating to Mourant's publications, 1929-1991, with extensive material relating to editions of The Distribution of the Human Blood Groups and to The Genetics of the Jews (1978). There is also editorial correspondence relating to publishers and journals, chiefly invitations to review books or referee papers and an incomplete set of offprints. There is correspondence and papers relating to some of Mourant's lectures and broadcasts, most notably the lectures on blood groups given at the Collège de France, Toulouse, 1978-1979. Societies and organisations material is not extensive, and is confined to brief documentation of only a few of the societies and organisations with which Mourant was associated. It includes professional and geological bodies as well as haematological, biological and medical organisations. Visits and conferences material covers the period 1960-1987. It is not comprehensive, though there is also considerable documentation of Mourant's visits and conferences in the papers he assembled in the course of preparing his biography and with lectures material. Mourant's correspondence is extensive. Its complexity reflects Mourant's organisation of the material, the bulk of which was found in three main series: 'Foreign 1965-1977', 'Biological' and 'Geological', together with a fragment of a fourth series 'Home 1965-1977'. Principal correspondents include C.C. Blackwell, B. Bonné, O.J. Brendemoen, V.A. Clarke, L.L. Cavalli-Sforza, A. W. Eriksson, T.J. Greenwalt, J.K. Moor-Jankowski, T. Jenkins, W.S. Pollitzer, D.F. Roberts, J. Ruffié, D. Tills and J.S. Weiner.

Papers of Dr Dorothea Clara Nasmyth, comprising memoirs entitled, 'Memoirs of a Medical Woman - Oxford September 1897', 1920 and material on her early life and World War One experience, edited from her diaries by her son James A Nasmyth.

The collection consists of diaries, correspondence and other papers from the period in which Ross was medical officer of the coolie ship Hong Bee, travelling between Penang and the China coast via Hong Kong. MS.6117 includes a temporary commission in the Royal Army Medical Corps, 1916.

Papers of Sir William Fletcher Shaw, 1906-1962, mainly relating to the history of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, including draft history of the foundation of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, drafted 1943-1946 and subsequently amended, 1943-1960; various drafts of chapters for the history; correspondence with Sir Boyd Merriman, Solicitor General, mainly concerned with the College's registration by the Board of Trade, 1929-1934; correspondence with William Blair-Bell, 1924-, with H Russell Andrews, 1926-1929, with Hempsons, Solicitors, 1926-1929, with Comyns Berkeley, 1925-1931, with Eardley Holland, 1928-1949, with J S Fairbairn, 1928-1929, with Victor Bonney, 1928-1929, with Ewen MacLean, 1926-1929, with Sir Francis Champneys, 1926-1929, with J M Munro Kerr, 1926-1945, with T W Eden, 1926-1929, with Lord Riddell, 1931-1933, with Carlton Oldfield, 1926-1929, with C G Lowry, 1927-1929, with F J McCann, 1927-1929, with AA Gemmell, 1927-1929;

papers preserved by Fletcher Shaw for their importance in the foundation of the College, including his earliest note on the subject, copies of GVS (Gynaecological Visiting Society) minutes, 1925-1927, counsel's opinion on the draft memorandum and articles of association with a copy of the draft, copies of the minutes of the Executive Committee, 1927, copies of correspondence and circular letters, 1927-1929, minutes of signatories and first full Council meeting, and other papers relating to the earliest activities of the College, 1924-1929;

typescript extracts from Fletcher Shaw's diaries including a letter to his son David (1940) explaining nature of their compilation and his wish to rival Blair-Bell's history, 1930-1943; typescript extracts from Fletcher Shaw's diary, 1930-1943,1947-1949,1953; correspondence with Sir Ewen Maclean on the presidency of Sir Eardley Holland and the early history of College, 1943-1946; minutes of Council with a few agenda and other papers, 1929-1935; draft memoirs of L C Rivett, J S Fairbairn, Russell Andrews, Sir Ewen Maclean, Sir Comyns Berkeley, Sir Eardley Holland, and Sir Francis Champneys, undated; file relating to the Standing Joint Committee of the three Royal Colleges, with later papers relating to Fletcher Shaw's account of the role of the RCS in the foundation of the College, 1942-1944; description and notes with related correspondence on the formation of a committee representing the medical profession in relation to the Beveridge Report, 1943; College's report on 'The health of women war workers from the gynaecological aspect' with associated papers and correspondence, 1942; papers relating to D W Roy and the Inter-Departmental Committee on abortion and Fletcher Shaw's later dispute with him, 1937-1938, 1940; correspondence relating to proposal to build RCOG, Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Surgeons on one common site, 1942-1943; correspondence with Sir Alfred Webb-Johnson, President, RCS, 1943-1946; personal correspondence of Shaw, 1951-1955; diary, 1938-1943;

papers relating to the College in wartime, and medical and maternity services in wartime, including the evacuation of pregnant women, 1938-1943, the College's relations with the BMA, 1938-1943, the College's relations with the RCP and RCS, 1939-1943, the appointment of gynaecologists to the armed services, Fulmer Chase Officers' Wives Maternity Hospitality, and women war workers, 1939-1943; correspondence with the Central Medical War Committee of the BMA, 1939-1941; papers and correspondence on infertility, 1944-1945;

various papers including an appeal for funds, 1932, standing orders for Council meetings, a paper on the drafting of the contentious clauses in the College's memorandum of association, Council papers relating to inter alia the Australian Regional Council, the Central Consultants and Specialists' Committee, Standing Joint Committee of the Three Royal Colleges memorandum on gynaecological cancer, and the National Birthday Trust Fund, programmes for Manchester Royal Infirmary Old Residents Club Dinners, 1910-1958; newspaper cuttings - one dated Feb 1907 re Manchester University students rowdy 'gown' debate mentioning Fletcher Shaw, the other confirming appointments at Manchester Royal Infirmary - Fletcher Shaw one of two house surgeons, c1907; copies of speeches, lectures and addresses made by Fletcher Shaw, 1938-1959; Fletcher Shaw's Memorial Service programme and transcription of address given at the service by Professor W I C Morris, 1961; obituary of Fletcher Shaw by E A Gerrard: 'The One Hundred and Second Record', 1962; copies of published gynaecological articles by Fletcher Shaw, 1906-1954.

Sir Edward Henry Sieveking's papers, 1846-1960, include his medical notebooks, with case notes, 1846-1873; Notebooks recording visits to patients, 1854-1879; Author's copy of On Epilepsy and Epileptiform Seizures, interleaved with his annotations, 1858; Diaries detailing his attendance of the Prince and Princess of Wales, 1863-1873, with related correspondence, 1886 and 1935; Chapters on 'physical organisation of the human race' by Sieveking, printed, undated; Correspondence with colleagues and family, and correspondence relating to Sieveking, 1863-1904; Papers relating to his professional appointments, such as material relating to his honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh, 1884, copies of the laws of the British Balneological and Climatological Society, undated, and St Mary's Hospital annual report, 1902; Addresses and lectures given by Sieveking, 1876-1890; Obituaries and memorials to Sieveking, including an introduction by his son, Albert Forbes Sieveking, 1904; Correspondence relating to Sieveking's papers, 1959-1960; Summary of, and commentary on, his diaries by Neville M. Goodman, c.1960; List of Sieveking's papers donated to the College, 1960; There is also a medical notebook thought to be in the hand of Alfred Robert Sieveking, which was found amongst Sieveking's papers.

Snow's casebooks, 1848-1858, three volumes written in the style of a diary, recording Snow's chloroform administration in his well-established anaesthetic practice in London.

Yellowly's journal of his Dutch tour, 1827, and later correspondence regarding the original manuscript, 1944 (photocopy)