HOST project partners

• King's College London
• University of Birmingham
• Whipple Library (Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge)
• Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine
• University of Manchester
• University of Newcastle
• University of St. Andrews
• University College London (UCL)

Spines of works by Charles Darwin. The expression of the emotions in man and animals, London: John Murray, 1872 and On the origin of species, 4th ed., London: John Murray, 1866.

King's College London

At King's both printed and archival collections are being targeted.

Library collections which are being conserved and whose catalogues are being converted to electronic form include:

• the De Beer Collection of works by or about Charles Darwin. This is the former library of Sir Gavin de Beer (1899-1972). As well as being a collector of material by and about Charles Darwin. De Beer was professor of Embryology at UCL (1945-1950) and director of the Natural History Museum (1950-1960). For further information on De Beer and to see images from the De Beer Collection please see the Sir Gavin De Beer and the De Beer Collection web page.
• the Early Science Collection, comprising 3,000 volumes of nineteenth and early twentieth century printed material. Strengths include botany, geology and zoology, with a particular emphasis on the works of Charles Darwin and his contemporaries
• the Stebbing Collection of zoological material (the former library of the zoologist Thomas Roscoe Rede Stebbing, 1835-1926)
• the library of Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875), Professor of Experimental Physics at King's and prolific inventor. One of the pioneers of the electric telegraph, Wheatstone amassed a considerable library (2,000 items) of printed material in such areas as acoustics, electricity, photography and telegraphy. He corresponded widely with scientists both within the UK and abroad, with the result that his library contains many rare pamphlets, often inscribed or annotated by their authors. For further information on Sir Charles Wheatstone and to see images from the Wheatstone Collection please see the Sir Charles Wheatstone and the Wheatstone Collection web page.

'Aurora Superb' from Smyth, Astronomical observations made at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, Edinburgh: Printed by Neill and Company, 1877

For further information, please contact:
Katie Sambrook
Special Collections Librarian, King's College London
email: catherine.sambrook@kcl.ac.uk

King's College London Library, Special Collections web site

Archival collections whose catalogues are being retrospectively converted to electronic form include:

• the papers of Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875), Professor of Experimental Physics at King's and prolific inventor
• the papers of James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879), a pivotal figure in mathematical theory
• the papers of the chemist C.L. Bloxam (1831-1887)
• the papers of the chemist J.F. Daniell (1790-1845)
• the papers of the zoologist Arthur Dendy (1865-1925)
• the archives of the King George III Museum of scientific instruments, which contain valuable astronomical and meteorological records
• the King's College London Engineering Society, the oldest society of its kind in the UK

For further information, please contact:
email: archives.web@kcl.ac.uk

Summary guides are available on the RSLP sponsored web site AIM25 (Archives in London and the M25 area) and also at the King's College London Archives web site.

University of Birmingham

At Birmingham both printed and archival collections have been targeted.

Approximately 6,000 online bibliographic records have been created for a wealth of printed material covering all aspects of the non-medical sciences. Areas of particular strength include mining (Birmingham was the first university to establish a Chair of Mining) and fuel technology.

Archival collections whose catalogues are being retrospectively converted to electronic form include:

• the papers of Richard Hill Norris (1831-1916), inventor of the dry photographic plate
• the archive of the Cannock Chase Colliery
• the archives of the Cannock Chase and Wolverhampton Railway
• the Nineteenth Century Industry Collection, containing a wealth of material relating to industries in the Midlands, Wales and the north of England. Subjects covered include collieries in Lancashire and Staffordshire, the Pontypool Iron Company and the Parkfield Iron Company.

For further information, please contact:
email: special-collections@bham.ac.uk

Whipple Library (Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge)

At the Whipple Library printed collections have been targeted.

Front cover of Wood, Common objects of the microscope, London: George Routledge, 1890

Nineteenth century printed items from the Whipple Library's foundation collection, the library of Robert Stewart Whipple, have been catalogued online for HOST; these include much valuable research material on scientific instruments, optics and microscopy. Other collections targeted for HOST include the Sleeman and Steward collections on chemistry and physics, the George Parker Bidder Collection on the biological sciences and items from the library of James Clerk Maxwell. HOST RSLP funding has also enabled a considerable amount of conservation work to be carried out.

During the process of retrospective cataloguing, it was discovered that the Whipple Library holds many of the works of Reverend John George Wood, a popular and prolific writer of the nineteenth century. For further information on Wood and more images from his works, please see the Whipple Library's Reverend John George Wood web page.

For further information, please contact:
email: wsm1@ula.cam.ac.uk

Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine

At Imperial archival collections have been targeted.

Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)

The papers of the scientist and educationalist, Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895) have been targeted for retrospective online cataloguing and physical conservation. This major research resource contains personal and family letters, as well as academic and professional correspondence with scientists, scholars and others. Huxley's main discoveries in the fields of palaeontology, biology and botany, as well as his pivotal role in the advancement of scientific education and professionalisation, are amply documented in his papers.

For further information, please contact:
Anne Barrett, College Archivist
email: a.barrett@ic.ac.uk

Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine, Archives web site

University of Manchester

At Manchester printed collections have been targeted.

At Manchester approximately 13,000 online catalogue records are being created, opening up to scholars a wealth of printed material covering the non-medical sciences. Particular strengths of the collections include radioactivity and atomic physics (reflecting the pioneering work of Rutherford and his colleagues at Manchester), industrial chemistry (here again Manchester was a pioneer, being the first UK university to establish a chair in Organic Chemistry) and all areas of engineering (a subject in which Manchester also has a long and illustrious tradition, being the second university to establish a chair, in 1868).

For further information, please contact:
Shirley Perry,
Head of Bibliographical Data Services
email: shirley.perry@man.ac.uk

University of Newcastle

At Newcastle printed collections have been targeted.

At Newcastle HOST is concentrating entirely on physical conservation of fragile printed items from the Wallis Collection. Altogether, 820 printed books from this significant collection will receive specialised conservation treatment at Newcastle's own Bindery and Conservation Unit. The Wallis Collection comprises books from the library of Dr Peter Wallis, Reader in Historical Bibliography at Newcastle and specialist in Newton. Its subject is mathematics and a particular strength of the collection lies in its holdings of nineteenth century works of popular arithmetical instruction, many of them in urgent need of conservation treatment if their long-term survival is to be ensured.

For further information, please contact:
Owen Bradford,
Bindery and Print Services Manager
email: Owen.Bradford@ncl.ac.uk

University of St. Andrews

At St. Andrews printed and archival collections have been targeted.

Online catalogue records for over 8,000 printed items from the library's collections are being created. Two areas of significant collection strength have been selected: natural history and mathematics. These include:

• the research collection of zoological material from the library of William Carmichael McIntosh (1838-1931), Professor of Natural History at St. Andrews
• the former library of the St. Andrews Botanical Garden, largely collected by its principal founder, John Hardie Wilson (1858-1920), lecturer in Agriculture and Rural Economy at the university and McIntosh's assistant
• mathematical collections reflecting St. Andrews long and illustrious research tradition in this field, augmented, as are the natural history holdings, by material received during St. Andrews' period as a copyright deposit library, which came to an end in 1836

Three large archival collections, whose subject focus complements that of the printed collections targeted by HOST at St. Andrews, are being catalogued in electronic form:

• the papers of William Carmichael McIntosh (1838-1931), Professor of Natural History at St. Andrews
• the papers of John Hardie Wilson(1858-1920), lecturer in Agriculture and Rural Economy at the university, McIntosh's assistant and principal founder of the St. Andrews Botanical Garden
• the papers of Darcy Wentworth Thompson (1846-1948), Professor of Natural History at St. Andrews, scientific polymath and prolific correspondent with many leading scientists of his time

Exhibition of HOST material held at the University of St Andrews. Organised and photographed by Meic Pierce Owen.

For further information, please contact:
Mrs Christine Gascoigne,
Keeper of Rare Books
email: cmg@st-and.ac.uk

University College London

At UCL printed collections have been targeted.

Online catalogue records for some 3,500 printed items are being created at UCL. A number of key collections, largely comprising bequests from scientists who taught at the College in the nineteenth century, have been selected for retrospective online cataloguing. These are:

• the History of Science Sources Collection, which covers all the non-medical sciences but is particularly strong in mathematics, chemistry and geology
• the Fleming Collection (the bequest of Sir Ambrose Fleming, first Professor of Electrical Engineering at UCL) of material on electricity
• the Johnston Lavis Collection on vulcnanology
• the Malacological Society Collection of works on molluscs (The Malacological Society is now based at the University of Sunderland)
• the Smith Woodward Collection of works on palaeontology

For further information, please contact:
Diana Mercer,
Sub-Librarian (Bibliographic Services)
email: d.mercer@ucl.ac.uk

Illustration by Charles D'Orbigny from, Dictionnaire universel d' histoire naturelle, 2me ed., Paris: E. Martinet, 1867-1869.

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