Illustrative material collected from various parts of the Royal Observatory archival stores; chiefly images of Royal Observatory buildings at Greenwich.

The first two series, the engravings of Francis Place, are perhaps the most celebrated. Other items of note include drawings, sketches and watercolours of the buildings at Greenwich by relatives of the Astronomer Royal, George Airy, including his sisters-in-law Elizabeth Smith (RGO 116/3) and Caroline Smith (RGO 116/4), and his daughter Christabel Airy (RGO 116/5); a set of watercolour illustrations produced by William Bazett Murray and published in the London Illustrated News (RGO 116/10); miscellaneous drawings and watercolours of the RO Greenwich (RGO 116/6); a set of early photographs of the Observatory (RGO 116/9); and illustrative material relating to Halley's Comet (RGO 116/11).