Manuscripts of papers published in Philosophical Transactions

Description

The manuscript versions of papers published by the Royal Society in the 'Philosophical Transactions'. The series has many points of interest, which include authors' corrections to manuscripts and the presence of original illustrations in various media (drawings, watercolours and photographs) bound in the volumes. Not all of the original material printed in the 'Philosophical Transactions' relating to Society business survives, but manuscript examples of meteorological observations, lists of presents and annual indexing may be found in volumes 8, 9 and 12.

Papers are usually bound into vellum-covered volumes by year of publication, although a few (volumes 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 17, 73-75) are loose, boxed items. The papers are arranged within the volumes largely in the order in which they appeared within each volume of Philosophical Transactions. Several gaps appear in the collection, notably for the period 1825-1839 (volumes 18-22) and any year may lack one or more papers; these omissions are noted at the beginning of each part. Despite this, the series constitutes a large, relatively complete run.

Custodial history

In the possession of the Royal Society when received for publication

Reference number

PT

Earliest possible date

1802-1865

Physical description

Paper bound into vellum-covered volumes

Page extent

1,035 papers in 66 bound vols and 7 vols unbound in 11 boxes, and 7 boxes of separated illustrations representing three volumes (73-75)