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MONT II · Fonds · 1889-1968

This collection, the second accession of Montagu papers received at Trinity, comprises papers of Edwin Montagu himself, with various related additions. It includes correspondence between Montagu and his wife Venetia, both before and after their marriage; telegraphic correspondence between Montagu, as Secretary of State for India, and the Viceroys Lord Chelmsford and Lord Reading; parts of Montagu’s second Indian Diary; letters from Montagu to his mother and father, Lord and Lady Swaythling; and a few letters to Montagu from various correspondents, including H. H. Asquith, Winston Churchill, and members of the Stanley family. The items added after Montagu’s death include press-cuttings of obituaries, and correspondence about the sorting of the papers in the 1950s.

Montagu, Edwin Samuel (1879-1924), politician
Manuscripts in Printed Books
MSPB · Fonds · 1767-1955

Most of the items included in this category are letters, and most are connected with the publications into which they are inserted.

Trinity College Library, Cambridge
MUNB · Fonds · 1850s-1907

Diaries of Arthur Munby, 1859-98; diaries of visits to Hannah, 1885-1907; notebooks, 1864-87; Hannah’s diaries, 1854-73; letters from Hannah to Munby, 1870-1907; manuscripts of Munby’s poetry; manuscript of 'Faithful Servants'; albums of photographs and cartes de visite, 1850s-1900s.

Munby, Arthur Joseph (1828-1910), diarist and civil servant
Papers of H. A. J. Munro
MUNR* · Collection · 19th c.

A small collection of volumes of notes, writings, and translations on classical subjects, as well as an obituary notice of William George Clark and a memoir of Edward Meredith Cope.

This material forms a series within the additional manuscripts series a, b, c, and d and are catalogued as Add.Ms.a.3, Add.Ms.b.1-4, Add.Ms.c.13-15, and Add.Ms.d.9-10.

Munro, Hugh Andrew Johnstone (1819-1885), classical scholar
Myers Papers
MYER · Fonds · 1796-1979

The archive consists in the greater part of correspondence of Frederic and Eveleen Myers (1840s-1930s) but also contains Frederic Myers' diaries (1843-97) and notebooks (1861-81), notes and discussions on psychical research, family memorabilia and photographs and papers relating to L. H. Myers including papers relating to the publication of The Pool of Vishnu, poems and autobiographical notes (20th cent).

Myers, Frederic William Henry (1843-1901), psychical researcher and essayist
Papers of E. H. Neville
NEVL · Fonds · 1912-1964

These papers consist primarily of writings by E. H. Neville which are accompanied by a small amount of correspondence, and a box of offprints of articles by and about Neville. Some of the writings are identified, but many are not, and it is not clear if the unidentified writings are lecture notes or drafts of one or more books for publication. These unidentified writings tend to be fair copies, with few alterations. Correspondents include W. W. Rouse Ball, W. E. H. Berwick, A. R. [Forsyth?], E. G. Gallop, Amy Herman, R. A. Herman, J. Jackson, J. E. Littlewood (about G. H. Hardy), and W. F. Sheppard.

Neville, Eric Harold (1889-1961), mathematician and educationist
Manuscripts in Wren Class O
O. · Fonds · 10th-20th c.

Class O is the repository of the Gale collection of manuscripts, donated to the library in 1738 by Roger Gale, the son of Dr Thomas Gale. This collection was described in 1902 by M. R. James in the preface to volume III of his catalogue of Western manuscripts in Trinity College Library which may be viewed online at https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/manuscripts/uv/view.php?n=vol.3#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=-338%2C0%2C5011%2C3341. A searchable version of the James catalogue may be found online at https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/.

The manuscripts listed in this catalogue were placed in Class O in the Wren Library on shelves not otherwise occupied by the Gale collection. They consist of a mix of single items and small archival entities, with materials which form a part of larger collections housed elsewhere. It should be noted that there are gaps in the numbering scheme of items on the shelves, and that the cataloguing of these materials is a work in progress.

Trinity College Library, Cambridge
Papers of Huia Onslow
ONSL · Fonds · 1896-1924

This collection does not contain a great quantity of personal material: there is no correspondence with family and friends, for example; there is however a manuscript account of a tour by yacht on the Norfolk Broads in 1903, perhaps by Huia Onslow's governess Helen Moodie as well as creative work by Huia Onslow, such as poetry and a short story, and his translations of poems from Joachim du Bellay's Amours. There is also a group of letters relating to Onslow's stay for health reasons at Banchory, Scotland, in 1913, mainly concerning the choice of house and payment of rent. Financial and legal material includes correspondence between Onslow and his solicitors regarding duties payable on the death of his father William, 4th Earl of Onslow, in 1911, statements of rent received from properties in London account books (including a record of laboratory expenses, 1918-1922), and an inventory and valuation of furniture at Onslow's house made after his death.

Despite the lack of personal correspondence, the papers include a large number of letters. Significant groups include: Onslow's correspondence with J. Donovan, sparked by Donovan's advert in the Athenaeum magazine asking for a physicist to provide him with help on 'an original line of inquiry bearing on the explanation of Life and Mind in exclusively physical terms'; correspondence with various members connected to the Eugenics Education Society (1914-1920) relating to Onslow's work for them; and letters relating to Onslow's work as secretary for the Anaesthetics Emergency Fund of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association (1915-1916), particularly over-seeing contributions from New Zealand.

Correspondence relating to Onslow's own work includes: letters to and from George MacElwee and Frederick Fletcher in response to Onslow's advertisement in the Times as 'A Struggling Scientist' seeking funds for his research (1914-1915); letters between Onslow, William Auton, and Helen Moodie regarding the breeding of rabbits and mice (1914-1915), as well as letters from H. W. Blake, Mabel Illingworth, and W. S. Singleton on the same subject. There is however no correspondence with Sydney Cole (except for a 1914 bill from Cole for private tution), Muriel Wheldale or other scientists.

Onslow's scientific research is well represented in the form of notes: most of the material in this category is in the form of notebooks recording record his investigations into genetics and biochemistry from 1912 onwards, such as three large books on Onslow's programme of breeding rabbits for colour, and books concering his research into pigmentation in insects (butterflies and beetles) and birds. Also present is a fair quantity of loose material on experiments relating to trytophan, probably the work which led to his (posthumously published) paper on the subject. Onslow's interest in hypnosis is also reflected in his loose notes, which include observations from a series of hypnosis sessions in 1912.

There are also drafts of several of Onslow's articles, some later published, others seemingly unpublished, and offprints of the majority of his published articles. Finally, there are a few textbooks, presumably used by Onslow as an undergraduate.

Onslow, Victor Alexander Herbert Huia (1890-1922), biochemist
PAGE · Fonds · 1925-1977

Correspondence, photographs, notebooks and loose notes, newspaper cuttings, articles and reviews, proofs, index cards etc.

Most of the notes in Page's hand relate to his editions of Ancient Greek authors.

Also present is correspondence of Page's wife Katharine, née Dohan, including letters from her mother, Edith Hall Dohan, and other members of her family, and letters from Denys Page to Katharine, both before and after their marriage. Some of these were written during Page's time at Bletchley Park during World War II, and while he was part of a special mission to the British headquarters in Sri Lanka and Singapore after the war.

Page, Sir Denys Lionel (1908-1978), knight, classical scholar
Letters to George Peacock
PEAC · Fonds · 1823-58

The papers consist of 281 letters written to George Peacock from a variety of friends, acquaintances, fellow academics and clergymen.

Peacock, George (1791-1858), mathematician and university reformer
PEAC II · Fonds · 1807-39

94 letters, most of them written to Peacock's brother William, with six to his father Rev. Thomas Peacock, one each to his sister Hannah and brother Thomas, and nine others addressed to an unspecified 'Dear Sister'. The letters date from the time he was a schoolboy in Richmond until after his appointment to the Ely Deanery.

Peacock, George (1791-1858), mathematician and university reformer
Pethick-Lawrence Papers
PETH · Fonds · 1825-1970

This collection contains, firstly, the surviving contents of the Pethick-Lawrences’ correspondence files, including letters from, and copies of letters to, a wide range of politicians and public figures. It also contains papers relating to the Lawrence family and the early life of F. W. Lawrence; articles and scripts of talks by Lord Pethick-Lawrence; correspondence between the Pethick-Lawrences themselves; papers of Lady Constance Lytton; papers relating to the separation of the Pethick-Lawrences from the Women’s Social and Political Union; and papers relating to prison conditions. The collection includes particularly notable material on the subjects of Indian independence, the suffrage movement, and other aspects of social reform.

Lawrence, Frederick William Pethick- (1871-1961), 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence, politician
POWL* · Collection · 1930s

This collection contains materials produced while Powell was working on Thucydides and the word slips used in developing his Herodotus Lexicon.

This material forms a series within the additional manuscripts series b and c and are catalogued as Add.Ms.b.90-96 and Add.Ms.c.113-151, 244.

Powell, John Enoch (1912-1998), politician
Manuscripts in Wren Class R
R. · Fonds · 14th-20th c.

Class R is the Wren Library repository of manuscripts for all those works which could not be classed as theological. As a consequence, the class is a miscellaneous assortment representing many fields, particularly history, poetry, philosophy, law, natural science, medicine, and music. The contents of Class R were described in 1901 by M. R. James in the preface to volume II of his catalogue of Western manuscripts in Trinity College Library, which may be viewed online: https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/manuscripts/uv/view.php?n=vol.2#?c=0. A searchable version of the James catalogue may be found online: https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/

The manuscripts listed in this catalogue are those modern manuscripts in R with strong connections to materials housed elsewhere in the library, particularly in Additional Manuscripts. Where James did not provide a description in his catalogue, a description has been provided. Where the James catalogue entry is detailed, a pointer record has been created in this catalogue to highlight the entry in the James catalogue. It should be noted that there are gaps in the numbering scheme of items on the shelves, and that the cataloguing of these materials is a work in progress.

Trinity College Library, Cambridge
Papers of Lord Butler
RAB · Fonds · 1788-1982

Personal papers 1918-65; personal correspondence 1916-76; family papers 1788-1956; official papers 1904-68; official correspondence files 1933-66; general political files 1929 76; Conservative Party material 1933-64; constituency papers 1918-64; speeches and articles 1929-79; press cuttings 1926 76; photographs 1868-1964

Butler, Richard Austen (1902-1982), Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, politician
RBTN · Fonds · 1894-1963

This catalogue includes personal correspondence and papers 1894-1963; career papers 1930-62; professional correspondence 1910-63; notes 1910-63; lectures 1913-62; publications 1913-63; poetry 1899-1914; papers relating to Robertson's dramatic activities 1909-51.

Robertson, Sir Dennis Holme (1890-1963), knight, economist
REDP · Fonds · 1967-c 1992

Drafts of lectures for a course titled "Hamlet: Problems of Interpretation" and drafts of chapters for an unfinished book based on these lectures. These are accompanied by a small group of related writings and notes.

Redpath, Robert Theodore Holmes (1913-1997), literary scholar
Papers of Rush Rhees
RHEE · Fonds · 1951-1989

The papers in this archive consist of papers created by Rhees in his role as literary executor of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein

Rhees, Rush (1905-1989), philosopher
Papers of Robert Robson
ROBS · Fonds · 1936-91

These papers mainly comprise publications, notes, and correspondence relating to aspects of Trinity College history. There are also papers of College committees of which Robson was a member and drafts of unpublished works.

Robson, Robert (1929-1995), historian
Rothschild MS · Collection · 16th cent.-19th cent.

The collection consists of the manuscript collection of the third Baron Rothschild, much of which was purchased at auction. The majority of items are 18th-century literary works with a particular emphasis on Swift.

Rothschild, Nathaniel Mayer Victor (1910-1990), 3rd Baron Rothschild, zoologist and public servant
Salter Papers
SALT · Fonds · 1901-71

The papers concern psychical research, in particular the concept of cross-correspondence in the writings of automatic writers, and consist of automatic scripts by Margaret and Helen Verrall (later Helen Salter), with notes and correspondence relating to these and the writings of other automatists active during the early decades of the twentieth century, including those of Alice Fleming ("Mrs Holland") and Winifred Coombe Tennant ("Mrs Willett"). In addition, there are 32 privately printed volumes, including various scripts edited by the Verralls, J. G. Piddington, Alice Johnson, and G. W. Balfour; Piddington's nine-volume analysis 'Notes and Excursuses' and W. H. Salter's 'Introduction to the Study of Scripts'.

Salter, William Henry (1880-1969), lawyer and psychical researcher
Papers of Sir Peter Shaffer
SHAF · Fonds · 1940-2016

The papers consist of correspondence, writings, diaries, photographs, and printed material which document the life and work of playwright Sir Peter Levin Shaffer.

Shaffer, Sir Peter Levin (1926-2016), knight, playwright
Papers of Henry Sidgwick
SIDG* · Collection · 1859-1906

This collection of Sidgwick's papers consists mostly of correspondence covering the period 1859 to 1900, the major correspondents being Mary Sidgwick, Mary Benson (nee Sidgwick), F W H Myers and Eleanor Sidgwick. There is also some biographical material, obituary notices and papers relating to the memoir of Sidgwick published by Eleanor and Arthur Sidgwick.

These papers are catalogued within the additional manuscript series 'c' and are catalogued as Add.Ms.c.93-106; Add.MS.b.68-71 and Add.MS.d.64-71 also comprise material by or relating to Sidgwick.

Sidgwick, Henry (1838-1900), philosopher
SMIA · Fonds · 1872-1962

The collection comprises: letters to Arthur Hamilton Smith, including one from John Forsdyke, April 1939, on the controversial British Museum cleaning of the Parthenon sculptures, c. 27 items, 1903-1939; Smith's 'Statement of Services' and testimonials in application for the position of Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, 1908; notebooks kept on archaeological expeditions in Asia Minor, 1884 (includes two photographs) and Cyprus, 1890s; 'Letts Oblong Diary, 1909' containing an account of travels in Greece, Egypt and Italy.

Personal material of Arthur Hamilton Smith includes a notebook labelled ""Annals of the C[ambridge University Fencing Club, founded 1882"; diary, 1883-1890 (with gaps); [Apostles Society dinner] menus, 1885-1888; notebook kept by Smith recording outgoings on his 'Cash Account', 1897-1936; photograph of Smith as a young man and another of his house in Rome; material relating to his being appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1926.

There are also letters and postcards from Arthur Hamilton Smith to his wife Gertrude (59 items, 1897-1922), sister Daisy /Margaret (1881), and mother Susan (74 items, 1881-1912); these often include accounts of his work and travels, and sometimes sketches; occasional items are written in shorthand. Letters to Susan Smith from schoolmasters about her son Arthur (1872, 1879) and his reports from Winchester College (1874-1877), Herbert Kitchener about her son Charlie (1883?), and letters from Gertrude and Blomfield Jackson written on Gertrude's engagement to Arthur (1897); letters to Gertrude on her engagement from Margaret Smith (1897), and on the death of her husband (1941).

Fifteen letters to Elizabeth Hamilton Smith from her parents (1903-1932) and one from 'Archie' (1962); this last appears to relate to a letter of the same date about the Shell Periphery Camera sent to A[rchibald?] Parker Smith and asking for further details about Arthur Hamilton Smith's patent 'Cyclograph', regarding which there is further correspondence of Elizabeth Hamilton Smith, as well as the original award of the patent in 1895.

Legal and financial material, much to do with family trusts and property (c 15 items, 1896-1921), as well as printed material such as the obituary of Arthur Hamilton Smith by F. G. Kenyon in the "Proceedings of the British Academy", 1941.

Smith, Arthur Hamilton (1860-1941), museum curator
SMIH · Fonds · 1833-1942

The archive contains school and University papers 1871-1905, diaries 1881-94, Education Department and Treasury papers 1883-93. Papers relating to India 1891-1904, the Natal finance 1899-1900, the Ottoman public debt 1893-09, the General Post office 1903-09, the National Bank of Turkey 1903-17, the Royal Commission on the Civil Service 1912-15, wartime finance and trade 1915-21, the Indian Exchange and Currency Committee 1914-20 and the Railways Amalgamation Tribunal 1921-23. Correspondence 1873-1923. Papers of Lady Elisabeth Mary Babington Smith 1894-1935. Bruce family correspondence 1861-1938.

Smith, Sir Henry Babington (1863-1923), knight, civil servant and financier
Papers of James Smith
SMIJ · Fonds · 1872-1974

The collection mainly consists of letters to Smith from various friends and acquaintances, most of them literary scholars or Catholics or both. There are also five testimonials written for Smith in support of his application for the chair of English at the University of Fribourg in 1946 and three items apparently added to the papers by accident.

Smith, James (1904-1972), literary critic
Papers of Piero Sraffa
SRAF · Fonds · 1905-1983

Personal and family papers 1916-80, official papers 1905-81, correspondence 1911-83, miscellaneous notes 1923-63, notes for lectures 1927-31 and 1941-43, publications 1920-73, diaries 1927-81, bibliographical notes

Sraffa, Piero (1898-1983), economist
Papers of Richard Synge
SYNG · Fonds · 1892-1996

This large collection is uneven in its coverage but papers survive from all phases of Synge's life and career.

Section A, Biographical, is extensive. The personal material includes pocket diaries 1926, 1945-1992. There are records of Synge's childhood in the form of school work, reports and printed material, and of his time as an undergraduate at Trinity College Cambridge, principally his lecture notes and work sheets. Documentation of Synge's later career, honours and awards is patchy but there is material relating to the award of the 1952 Nobel prize for Chemistry to Synge and A.J.P. Martin. There is much family material, including correspondence between his parents during their courtship and after their marriage, and their correspondence with him, including many letters during Synge's time at Old Hall School, Winchester College and Trinity College. Family material also includes correspondence with his wife Ann and his sisters Anthea and Katharine. Synge's political interests are not particularly well documented although there is material relating to the Communist Party in the 1940s, the Society for Cultural Relations with the USSR 1946-1955 and to his later links with the peace movement including Scientists Against Nuclear Arms 1981-1991. The section also includes many photographs.

Section B, Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, is slight. It includes correspondence and papers relating to Synge's appointment including his statement of proposed work, inventories of equipment and chemicals, and miscellaneous administrative material. There are also papers relating to Synge's visit to Tiselius's laboratory at the Fysikalisk-Kemiska Institution in Uppsala, Sweden.

Section C, Rowett Research Institute, presents documentation of Synge's appointment to the Institute, his headship of the Department of Protein and Carbohydrate Chemistry - including research programmes, equipment and staff, the Agricultural Research Council Visiting Groups to the Institute, and administrative material including sets of Institute notices and circulars. There is also material relating to the Institute's Strathcona Club of which Synge was a loyal member, and a little memorabilia.

Section D, Food Research Institute, is not extensive. It includes correspondence and papers relating to Synge's appointment including his plan of research, comments on Lord Rothschild's 1971 Green Paper A Framework for Government Research and Development, administrative papers from the Chemistry Division, and project reports on Synge's research.

Section E, Research, comprises notebooks and research notes. The notebooks document Synge's research from postgraduate studies in the mid 1930s, through work for the Wool Industries Research Association in Leeds - including the invention and development of partition chromatography, the Lister Institute, Rowett Research Institute and Food Research Institute, to post-retirement work in the 1990s on electronic storage of chemical information. The bulk of the notebooks forms a sequence I-XXVII running from 1938 to ca 1979. There are also notebooks used for references from searches of the Science Citation Index and notebooks used by three collaborators, J.C. Wood, M.A. Youngson and S. Matai. The research notes cover the period 1938-1987. They include reports on work on proteins for the Wool Industries Research Association 1938-1943, wartime work on grass protein 1939-1943 and gramicidin S 1944-1946, studies on the nutritive value of by-products of the herring industry 1949-1951, and papers relating to computer searching for chemical information searches 1981.

Section F, Publications, lectures and broadcasts, documents some of Synge's scientific publications 1940-1992, public lectures 1942-1983 and broadcasts 1947-1961. The publications material is not comprehensive. There are relatively few drafts of Synge's biochemistry publications and the best documented work is Synge's 1990 article '25 years of Science Citation Index - some experiences'. There are translations of articles in the Soviet scientific literature on gramicidin S and correspondence and papers relating to the possible translation from the Russian of Mikhail Semenovich Tsvet 1872-1919 by E.M. Senchenkova. There is also editorial correspondence. Lectures material includes documentation of some of the many public and invitation lectures Synge gave to local and university branches of learned societies and professional associations. They include his 1951 Second P.F. Frankland Memorial Lecture, 'Biological aspects of proteins in the light of recent chemical studies' to the Royal Institute of Chemistry and the Institution of Electrical Engineers. Again, there are few drafts, the bulk of the material is correspondence regarding arrangements. The section also includes drafts found in Synge's two folders inscribed `Unpublished etc' including book reviews and drafts on the history of science, and a set of the collected off-prints of Synge's published work. References to Synge's publications in this catalogue refer to the List of Publications at A/1 and appear in the form Bibliog. ...

Section G, Visits, conferences and travel, covers the period 1945-1992. The most extensively documented visit is Synge's extended stay in New Zealand 1958-1959. There is correspondence relating to arrangements, documentation of Synge's research and material relating to other engagements fulfilled during his stay. There is also material relating to the return journey, including travel on the Trans-Siberian railway. Other visits for which significant documentation survives are the 1955 International Wool Textile Research Conference in Australia, the International Symposium on the Origins of the Earth, Moscow, USSR, 1957, Synge's visits to India as a guest of the Indian Statistical Institute in 1965, 1966 and 1970, and his visit to Cuba in May 1969. There is also material relating to Synge's award of the Nobel Prize. He attended gatherings of Nobel laureates at Lindau, West Germany on several occasions and returned to Stockholm for other Nobel-related events. Synge often took his family on his visits and this is sometimes reflected in the material.

Section H, Societies and organisations, documents Synge's involvement with 24 UK and overseas organisations from ca 1936 to 1993. There is material relating to the Agricultural Research Council, principally the Ruminant Metabolism Group 1949-1953 and N.W. Pirie's proposals for research on the extraction of leaf protein 1951-1953. Also well-documented is the Association of Scientific Workers 1938-1966. Synge was an enthusiastic supporter of the Association and served as a Vice-President from 1954. Other bodies for which there is significant material are the Biochemical Society - Synge served on the Editorial Board of the Biochemical Journal 1949-1955, the British Nutrition Foundation - Synge was a scientific governor of the Foundation 1974-1979, the Royal Society, and the Royal Society of Chemistry - particularly relating to its Chemical Information Group, 1984-1987.

Section J, Correspondence, is substantial and important. There is a main sequence of principal correspondents including A.C. Chibnall, S.R. Elsden, Hugh Gordon, Dorothy Hodgkin, J.H. Humphrey, H.R. Marston, A.J.P. Martin, Stanford Moore, N.W. Pirie, P.L. Robinson, F. Sanger and Arne Tiselius. There is also a chronological sequence of shorter scientific correspondence, requests for off-prints, and references and recommendations.

Synge, Richard Laurence Millington (1914-1994), biochemist
Sraffa MS · Collection · 1629-20th c.

The collection comprises manuscript correspondence and notes of a number of important political economists and politicians.

Sraffa, Piero (1898-1983), economist
TAYL · Fonds · 1777-1975

These surviving records are variable - even capricious - in content and time-span, for reasons inherent in Taylor's temperament, interests and methods of work. For most of his career he held research posts, especially the Yarrow Research Professorship of the Royal Society, to which he was appointed in 1923; he was thus almost wholly absolved from routine teaching, administrative, departmental or institutional tasks, and free to pursue whatever research suggested itself, or was suggested to him. He had the help of his technician, Walter Thompson, and a room in the Cavendish Laboratory, originally made available by Rutherford, who described Taylor as being 'paid provided he does no work'. This lack of formal establishment obligations, though ideal for Taylor's research, meant that he had no office or secretarial help. He worked with rough notes and drawings, often on any piece of paper that came to hand; even when he used a notebook of more conventional kind, the content is somewhat heterogeneous and lacks dates or headings (see B.2, B.3, for examples). Several of the official committee reports in Section C originally took the form of personal letters which were then typed out in a more acceptable official style (see, for example, C.37, C.41, C.42, C.45, C.49, C.50). Conversely, several letters in Section D are statements of research in progress, and were typed up and used as such by the recipients. Furthermore, it should be remembered that Taylor did much work at home at `Farmfield', whence most of the surviving letters are addressed.

The general consequences of these conditions of work are often mentioned in biographical articles about Taylor, and are best summarised by Batchelor in his Memoir (Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 22, 1976), p.597

Perhaps I should explain here that, so far as I know, at no time in his life did Taylor employ a secretary or have his letters typed. The documentary evidence of what he did throughout his life consists wholly of incoming letters and papers (including, of course, his own in published form), and since his filing system was rudimentary, and dependent more on his wife's wish to contain the papers in one room than on his need to find something later, I am sure there are some gaps. He did make an effort to retain one copy of every published paper in a set of boxes, but typed or duplicated reports, by him or by someone else, often remained in the envelopes in which they were delivered, and incoming letters were collected in large brown envelopes marked only with the year. Periodically Stephanie had a clearing-up operation which led to some documents being thrown out in order to make room for new ones, and few of the letters and documents that come in before about 1960 have survived.

The result is that very little now survives by way of notebooks, experimental records or laboratory observations to document Taylor's scientific research (see Section B). In order to supplement these scanty resources, Batchelor assembled from some of Taylor's correspondents copies of letters which might permit the reconstruction of a collaborative piece of research, joint publication or substantial scientific discussion. Successful examples of this enterprise are enumerated in the introduction to Section D and itemised in the relevant entries. Because of the paucity of surviving material by Taylor himself, a list of all items in that Section which include his letters or draft replies to correspondents is also given in the introduction to Section D. In addition, Batchelor assembled many of the reports and committee papers by Taylor, and these, together with other drafts and papers found in the collection, constitute the considerable body of unpublished work brought together in Section C.

A word may be said here about Taylor's handwriting. Although he wrote a fairly standard legible hand until about 1913 (see the manuscript of the Adams Prize Essay in C.2), the `Scotia' notebook of the same year (see B.1) is in the characteristic script, resembling the waves and eddies it often describes, of most of his subsequent letters and papers. It has certain similarities with his mother's hand, especially in her later years, and is not easy to read. Most of the recipients of his letters had typed copies made.

The personal material in Section A includes documents relating to a little known episode in 1911 when Taylor was obliged to spend several months in a sanatorium with a lung infection (see A.17 - A.23), and a considerable amount of information relating to Taylor's family, and particularly to the Boole connection. Taylor's mother, Margaret, was the second of the five daughters of George Boole, and Taylor both inherited and contributed to a sense of family continuity (see especially A.79 - A.135 and introductory note). The numerous photographs in E.1 - E.15 are a useful additional record of Taylor's family, career, travels and interests.

Probably the most widely known of Taylor's achievements is the CQR anchor. Material relating to this can be found in A.157, A.160, B.6, C.22, C.23, C.79, D.26, D.63, E.14.

Taylor, Sir Geoffrey Ingram (1886-1975), knight, physicist and engineer