IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0103 GALTON/117-188
Held at: University College London
Title: Galton, scientific papers
Date(s): 1850-1922
Level of description: sub-fonds
Extent: 73 boxes
Name of creator(s): Galton | Sir | Francis | 1822-1911 | Knight | eugenicist
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Devoted his life to travel, and the study of the weather, physical and mental characters in man and animals, the influence of heredity on them, heredity in twins, fingerprints and personal identification; awarded the silver medal of the French Geographical Society, 1851; awarded the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society, 1853; Fellow of the Royal Society, 1860; one of the founders of the review journal The Reader, 1864-1866; one of the founders, with Karl Pearson and Walter Frank Raphael Weldon, of Biometrika, a journal for the statistical study of biological problems, 1901; founded the Galton Laboratory of National Eugenics at University College London (later named the Galton Laboratory, Department of Human Genetics and Biometry); knighted, 1909; died, 1911.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers relating to Sir Francis Galton's scientific work, consisting of papers in connection with apparatus and instruments, 1850-[1906] (Ref: 117); meteorology, 1857-1905 (Ref: 118); letters and notes about The Reader, a review journal published by Galton and others, 1864-1865 (Ref: 119); heredity in man, 1865-1909 (Ref: 120-138), including papers relating to Hereditary genius (MacMillan, London, 1869), working papers and notes for English man of science, their nature and nurture (MacMillan, London, 1874), data and notes for Galton's inquiry into the effects of nature and nurture on the physical and mental characteristics of twins, papers relating to Record of family faculties (MacMillan, London, 1884), copy of Galton's will on the endowment of the Galton Laboratory at University College London, papers relating to Noteworthy families (John Murray, London, 1906), papers about anthropology and anthropometry, notes and papers on eugenics; heredity in plants and animals, 1884-1909 (Ref: 139-149), including notes and correspondence of the Evolution Committee (Animals and Plants) of the Royal Society, notes and papers on pedigree dogs, pedigree horses, and cattle; miscellaneous statistical papers, 1872-1894 (Ref: 150); papers on psychometry, including memory, the association of ideas, visualising and mental imagery, and papers relating to Inquiries into human faculty and its development (MacMillan, London, 1883), 1876-[1899] (Ref: 151-157); photography and portraiture, 1876-1906 (Ref: 158-166), including composite photographs, and papers on measurement by photography; papers relating to fingerprints and personal identification, 1881-1915 (Ref: 167-172), including photographs and specimen fingerprints; miscellaneous scientific papers, 1853-1907 (Ref: 173-181); memoirs and proofs of books by Galton, 1850-1911 (Ref: 182-185), including proof copies of English men of science, [1874], Inquiries into human faculty, 1883, National inheritance, 1888, Fingerprints, 1892, Hereditary genius, 1892, and Fingerprint directories, 1895; Galton's notes from books read, 1873-1904 (Ref: 186), including notes from books on the subject of 'Betrayal of feelings by gesture and expression'; newspapers cuttings and other printed matter, 1865-1922 (Ref: 187-188).
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
The papers are divided into subjects and are arranged chronologically within each subject; letters relating to a particular piece of scientific work have been left with the working papers connected with them.
Conditions governing access:
Open.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Normal copyright restrictions apply.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Published catalogue A list of the papers and correspondence of Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) held in the Manuscripts Room, the Library, University College London compiled by M Merrington and J Golden (University College London, 1976); name and subject index.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
The papers were deposited in University College London by Sir Francis Galton's executors soon after his death in 1911. They were added to by gifts from his nephew, Edward Galton Wheler-Galton, and from other members of the family. Purchases were made from sale rooms and private owners by Karl Pearson and other members of the Galton Laboratory during the following thirty years.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Compiled by Annabel Dodds as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.
Date(s) of descriptions: Sep 2000