Deposited Papers
These include letters, notebooks, diaries, essays, manuscript geological sections and views and printed topographic maps bearing manuscript notes and geological comments.
Early published geological maps are held, not in the Archive, but in the Map Library. Framed copies of William Smith’s 1815 map (“The map that changed the world”) a facsimile of John MacCulloch’s Geological map of Scotland (1840 edition) and the Society’s first geological map of England and Wales hang in the Society’s Entrance Hall and may be viewed by appointment. Modern prints of the William Smith map are available by post from the British Geological Survey Bookshop.
Material in the Archive of particular importance include the manuscript of chapters 4 to 7 of the third volume of James Hutton's ‘Theory of the Earth’, presented by Leonard Horner in 1856. This was "discovered" in the library by Archibald Geikie in 1897 and published in full soon after.
A large collection of drawings and paintings of fossil fish chiefly prepared by Joseph Dinkel for Louis Agassiz are held. Some were published in his published books ‘Recherches …’ and ‘Monographie …’ (1833-43), but many are unpublished. In many cases the specimens they depict are either lost or else have physically deteriorated, giving the beautifully detailed paintings a unique importance. This collection has been studied in detail by Dr S M Andrews of the Royal Scottish Museum.
The Society holds several special collections of personal papers of particular note including the Greenough Collection, Murchison Collection and Moore Collection.
Early published geological maps are held, not in the Archive, but in the Map Library. Framed copies of William Smith’s 1815 map (“The map that changed the world”) a facsimile of John MacCulloch’s Geological map of Scotland (1840 edition) and the Society’s first geological map of England and Wales hang in the Society’s Entrance Hall and may be viewed by appointment. Modern prints of the William Smith map are available by post from the British Geological Survey Bookshop.
Material in the Archive of particular importance include the manuscript of chapters 4 to 7 of the third volume of James Hutton's ‘Theory of the Earth’, presented by Leonard Horner in 1856. This was "discovered" in the library by Archibald Geikie in 1897 and published in full soon after.
A large collection of drawings and paintings of fossil fish chiefly prepared by Joseph Dinkel for Louis Agassiz are held. Some were published in his published books ‘Recherches …’ and ‘Monographie …’ (1833-43), but many are unpublished. In many cases the specimens they depict are either lost or else have physically deteriorated, giving the beautifully detailed paintings a unique importance. This collection has been studied in detail by Dr S M Andrews of the Royal Scottish Museum.
The Society holds several special collections of personal papers of particular note including the Greenough Collection, Murchison Collection and Moore Collection.