The manuscript collections date mostly from the mid-1750s, but also include recent collections, especially those related to nature conservation. The manuscript catalogue is currently on typed cards, showing the manuscript number and location. These records will eventually be entered onto the Library’s CARLS database, but because of the large amount of material held, it may not be possible for some years to enter details of individual items. Descriptions of holdings at collection level will be included as soon as possible. Readers will still be able to use the card catalogue to find details of individual items.
Several individual calendars of correspondance, narrative studies and transcripts have already been published and a number of calendars are in the process of preparation. A summary of manuscript holdings is given in Natural History Manuscript Resources in the British Isles by Bridson, Phillips and Harvey.
Linnaean Manuscripts
The most important manuscripts in the Library are those which formed part of the Linnaean Library which was purchased by James Edward Smith from the widow of Linnaeus in 1784.
Correspondence and Scientific Papers
Most manuscripts form collections of individual letters of important scientists, including James Edward Smith, Richard Pulteney, George Bentham and William Swainson. There are also collections of letters and papers, such as those of Alexander MacLeay, William Sharp MacLeay, Peter Collinson, and John Ellis. Scientific papers include the notebooks and journals kept by Alfred Russel Wallace while collecting in Asia; researches on fungi by Frederick Currey; notebooks by George Montagu on shells, worms, and molluscs; and lists of descriptions of plants and animals, including John Forster’s descriptions of animals seen during Cook’s second voyage; Pehr Kalm’s descriptions of North American plants; Solander’s catalogue of Banks’s shells; and Patrick Browne’s catalogue of the plants of Jamaica and other sugar colonies.
Original copies of some of the papers presented at meetings of the Linnean Society number several hundred items, many of which have been published in the Society’s journals. These papers are often accompanied by drawings and the referee’s report on the paper.
Diaries
Also included are journals and diaries, particularly of voyages, such as Alexander Anderson’s visits to the West Indies in 1803; Joseph Omer-Cooper’s diary of an expedition to Abyssinia in 1926; transcripts or facsimiles of Archibald Menzies’ journal of Vancouver’s voyages between 1790 and 1794; and Olof Rudbeck’s diary of a journey to Lapland in 1695.
Annotated Works
There are also a number of annotated books, the annotations done by either the author or the owner of the book, including Thomas Martyn’s copy of Linnaeus' Species Plantarum; Wallace’s copy of John Lindley’s Elements of Botany; and a copy of T P Yeats’ Institutions of Entomology, annotated by Sydenham T Edwards with charming marginal drawings of insects, in microscopic life-size.
