| Description | A series of (generally) printed material relating to, and commenting on, the Royal Society's activities, with biographical material on Fellows from the press.
The series includes scrap books containing cuttings from newspapers interspersed with other printed matter, usually ephemera, and occasional items of manuscript. The first general volume is for the years 1846-1876. Afterwards, two similar styles of volume emerge in the late nineteenth century: biographical and general. From 1910 there is a gap in coverage until 1918, at which point the volumes cover both Fellowship matters and general Royal Society notices. Increasingly, there is coverage of general science issues too, and by the 1940s, increasing elements of history of science and events such as scientific centeraries are reported upon. Book-style press cuttings cease at 1976 and thereafter newscuttings were either preserved in loose files, or photocopied and kept in monthly bundles.
There are a few thematic volumes. In the earlier part of the series expeditions such as 'HMS Challenger' and the 'National Antarctic Expedition' have dedicated volumes. There are two additional books in the 1950s and 1960s, collecting material on space science and satellites. |