The Royal Society

The Royal Society is a Fellowship of eminent scientists from around the world. Founded in 1660, it is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. The Society’s collections contain manuscripts, archives and printed works from many famous scientists and natural philosophers, including Jewish Fellows.

Archive Description

The Royal Society collections began with the foundation of the Society in 1660 and cover all branches of science. The library holds over 78,000 volumes, including rare printed books, scientific periodicals and an extensive collection of scholarship on the history of science. The collections also include photographs, engravings, paintings and sculptures, as well as original scientific instruments and timepieces.

The archives include the works of Fellows of the Royal Society, personal papers of eminent scientists, letters and manuscripts sent to the Society or presented at meetings, and administrative records documenting the Society’s activities since 1660.

They also hold records relating to many past and present Royal Society Fellows. There have been Fellows with Jewish heritage since the election of Isaac de Sequeira Samuda in 1723, and the collections hold manuscripts and archives about many of them. They also hold the personal paper collections of several eminent twentieth century Jewish scientists, which are also listed on Yerusha.

Online Accessibility

The Royal Society’s archives and printed works collections can be searched via the online catalogue.

Users can also search a database of biographical information of all past Fellows of the Society since its founding in 1660.

Digital Accessibility

Parts of the holdings have been digitised and made accessible online –

Digitised archives and manuscripts can be found on our Science in the Making platform and a number of important bound manuscripts and books are available on Turning the Pages.

Portraits of past Fellows can be found in the Past Fellows database, and on the Picture Library alongside other high-resolution images from the collection.

Access Information

The Royal Society’s collections are accessible to researchers although advanced notice is required as there are a limited number of spaces in the reading room.

Appointments should be made a day or two in advance by contacting library@royalsociety.org. It is advised to book earlier if possible in case the reading room is full.

Some twentieth century material is stored offsite and will need to be ordered in advance, so allow extra time before the booking where this applies – the online catalogue will indicate which collections are offsite.

Reading room opening times: Monday – 10.30am to 5pm, Tuesday to Friday – 10am to 5pm

Visitors should check the website for any closure dates before booking an appointment.

New readers will need to register before material from the collections can be accessed. They will need to complete a registration form and present photographic ID and proof of address for verification purposes.

Online enquiries can be made by contacting us at library@royalsociety.org.

Street Address

The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG

https://royalsociety.org/about-us/what-we-do/collections