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Scope and Contents

Historical artefacts belonging to the Cambridge Philosophical Society, located in the Henslow Room as at August 2015. They include the Society’s ballot box. Their permanent location is not fixed as at September 2022.

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The committee records listed here derive largely from committees set up to oversee the production of Cambridge Philosophical Society publications. There are also financial committee records and records of a committee set up to organise the sesquicentenary celebrations in 1969.

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This section contains records relating to the foundation and early history of the Cambridge Philosophical Society; the Society's charter and bye-laws; the Society's seal; and legal agreements.

Scope and Contents This section contains minutes, papers and correspondence of the Council of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, together with related papers such as items previously contained in the minute books. Many of the volumes of minutes contain items tipped or pasted in, such as accounts and reports of committees; also letters and notices relating to administration, premises, collections, gifts, publications and books, prizes, scientific papers and research, membership, departmental visits and other...

Scope and Contents This section includes records relating to lectures and meetings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society; also dinners; anniversary events; and other special events and visits. Records of CPS meetings include posters, flyers and video recordings. Records of dinners include menus, guest lists, seating plans, venues, cuttings and speeches. Records of anniversaries include cuttings, correspondence, reports, programmes and speeches. Records of special visits and events include a record of CPS...

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This section lists annual accounts, cash books, papers relating to investments, and receipts etc kept by the Treasurer.

Scope and Contents This section contains minutes and papers of General Meetings and Special General Meetings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. The minutes record ‘communications’ [papers read to general meetings]; receipt of gifts; proposal and election of new fellows; and, from the late 1890s, visits to places of interest. Annual general meetings (called ‘Anniversary’ meetings in early volumes) record election of new officers and the auditing of the treasurer’s accounts. Some annual statements of...

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This section contains papers relating to research grants and studentships administered and awarded by the Cambridge Philosophical Society. As at September 2022, this section consists only of miscellaneous late 20th century flyers relating to grants.

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This section includes items which are not produced by the Society but which are of relevance to its history, and items which do not fit easily by provenance into other sections, such as press cuttings, memorabilia, and archive sourced writing.

Scope and Contents The Cambridge Philosophical Society established a Reading Room and Library within a couple of years of its foundation. As the 19th century progressed the ‘Philosophical Library’ came to be seen as a vital resource to the University of Cambridge: when the Society sold its house on All Saints Passage in 1865, the University granted it the use of a room on the New Museums site to house the Library. In 1881, when the Library had become cramped, the University agreed to house and staff the...

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This section includes lists and indexes of fellows and associates of the Cambridge Philosophical Society; proposal forms for fellows and associates; letters of acceptance sent by those elected to honorary membership; and records of subscriptions to the Society.

Scope and Contents By the late 1830s the Cambridge Philosophical Society had acquired, through donations and purchases, a sizeable museum of natural history, comprising collections of British birds, shells, fish and insects, together with fish, insects and various curiosities from China, South America and elsewhere. The Society employed a curator to look after the collections. Apart from several hundred species of fish presented by Charles Darwin, however, the museum did not attain major scientific importance,...

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This section contains papers of individual members of the Cambridge Philosophical Society and other scientists which have been found amongst the official archives of the Society or deposited with the Society. They comprise chiefly a miscellany of papers and photographs relating to Sir Joseph Larmor, President of CPS 1898-1900. They also include nine letters, 1800-1801, sent by Thomas Young (1773-1829) to W H Wollaston relating to research and experiments on dispersion of crystalline.

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This section contains photographs and other images chiefly of people and premises connected with the Cambridge Philosophical Society. It comprises a miscellany of images, including Sir Joseph Larmor (President of CPS 1898-1900); CPS staff late 20th century; and a visit by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in 1980.

Scope and Contents This section contains papers relating to various premises occupied by the Cambridge Philosophical Society from its beginnings, including 1830s records of the work of Charles Humfrey, architect . The Society held its first meetings in the Museum of the (old) Botanic Garden before moving, in April 1820, to rented rooms above a shop managed by Mr C Bulstrode in Sidney Street, facing up Jesus Lane. In 1832 the Society leased land from St John’s College in All Saints Passage and built its own...

Scope and Contents This section contains records relating to the main publications of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, namely Transactions, Proceedings (from 1975 Mathematical Proceedings), and Biological Reviews, together with some records relating to occasional publications. The records include the following: some copies of early volumes of the Transactions (1821-27); records of publications sold and donated; stock lists; prices; records relating to illustrations (including copper plate engravings, glass...

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This section contains papers deriving from research projects conducted by the Cambridge Philosophical Society. As at September 2022, this section contains only records relating to the late 19th and early 20th century work of the Anthropometric Committee.