The Historical Collection

As one of the foremost chemical societies in the world, the RSC has an extensive archive of historical chemistry information. Below are details about the Special & Digitised Collections. For further information on the Historical Collection, please read the Historical Guide (PDF downloadable below).

Special Collections

The Sir Frederick Abel Papers
In January 2010, a collection of papers was donated to the RSC by the descendants of Sir Frederick Abel (1827-1902).  The collection includes two of his diaries (1854 & 1875) and many of his professional & personal letters.

Sir Henry Roscoe
Included in this collection are manuscripts of lectures given by Sir Henry Roscoe, notes by him on solar chemistry work, letters written to him, and his notebook for 1849.  The Roscoe books collection has about 100 items and was donated in 1906 by Roscoe himself.

Colonel Sir Frederick Nathan
The Nathan collection, bequeathed in 1934, is a collection of books, pamphlets and posters on explosives and firearms, dating from 1598 to 1920.

Professor Francis Camps/Professor Ann Robinson
Francis Camps was a famous forensic scientist and toxicologist and was involved in many important murder trials in the 20th century such as the Christie case. His collection of forensic chemistry and medicinal toxicology books was donated to the RSC by his wife Professor Ann Robinson.

Robert Crosbie Farmer
Robert Farmer worked at the Royal Arsenal Woolwich during the period 1920-1945 and specialised on TNT. He was a leading member of the TNT Court of Enquiry and was part of the Naval Cordite Committee.

Digitised Collections

Digistised copies of two works within the RSC's Historical Collection.