A GUIDE TO THE ARCHIVES OF THE ROYAL ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
A Guide to the Archives of the Royal Entomological Society
Edited by
BERIT PEDERSEN
First published 2002 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2017 by Routledge
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Copyright The Royal Entomological Society 2002
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Pedersen, Befit
A guide to the archives of the Royal Entomological Society
1.Royal Entomological Society of London - Archives
Catalogs 2.Entomology - History - Sources - Bibliography
Catalogs
I.Title II.Pedersen, Befit
016.5957
Library of Congress Control Number: 2001091111
ISBN 13: 978-0-7546-0106-7 (hbk)
Contents
Brian O. C. Gardiner
Simon Fenwick
Brian O. C. Gardiner
Colour: between
Black and white: between
Many people have been involved in the creation of this invaluable guide to the Archives of the Royal Entomological Society. Eric Gowing Scopes (who as well as being a long standing Fellow of the Society, is also an extremely invaluable volunteer to the Society Library) first started to gather the scattered documents that make up our collection in 1988. Eric has continued to advise and help with the book throughout. Later, in 1997, the archivist Simon Fenwick was employed by the Society and he marvellously organised the collection as it stands today. He also started the project to get this book published and provided the first drafts for this publication.
Bob Clements (former chairman of the Library Committee and now Honorary Treasurer to the Society) and Roger Blackman (former President) are to be thanked for their assistance in proof reading and I am grateful to Jo Chisholm of IGER, North Wick, Devon who assisted us with camera ready copy technology, and to Francis Molisso for his invaluable IT assistance in the last stages of getting this tome completed.
Bill Knight very kindly gave photographs and information on Project Wallace. I want to thank Marion Gratwick for her support to Brian Gardiner.
I would like to thank Julie Harvey, Entomology librarian at the Natural History Museum (London) for her encouragement and help.
Peter Credland (Honorary Editorial Officer of the Society) and the Publications Committee were very supportive and I am grateful to them for their encouragement and to Council for agreeing to this project in the first instance. I also appreciate the support of three presidents during this project, Walter Blaney, Roger Blackman and the present incumbent, Mike Claridge.
I would also like to thank the following for their support and helpful suggestions; Greg Bentley and his successor as Registrar, Bill Blakemore; my two predecessors as Librarian to the Society, Jacqueline Ruffle and Katherine Watkins; Alan Clements (Chairman of the Library Committee) and all the members of the Library Committee, especially the advice from Basil Harley. Miss E. R. Adams (Tina) (I am so lucky that I have two volunteers extraordinaire at the Library and Tina is my second one!). John Badmin (Honorary Secretary to the Society) for assistance with insect names, the office staff at 41 Queens Gate: June Beeson, Pat Eagleton, Sue Freear, Rita Gorman, Philip York and Maria Lyons (these last three have now left the Society but their help and kindness is not forgotten). I also wish to thank all the people at Ashgate Publishing who have been so patient and understanding with me, particularly John Smedley.
Last but not least this book would not have been possible without the enthusiasm and dedication of Simon Fenwick and Brian Gardiner (former editor of the Societys journal The Entomologist).
Befit Pedersen BA (Hons) ALA Librarian to the Royal Entomological Society
Autumn 2001
I am pleased to be able to write a few words of introduction for the guide that Simon Fenwick helped compile to the archives of the Royal Entomological Society. These archives are valuable because they give day-to-day details of the Societys affairs and first-hand insights into the thinking of people who have shaped and developed British entomological science through more than 150 years. In addition to the Societys own documents there has accumulated over the years a large quantity of correspondence and papers bequeathed by its members, containing a wealth of information about the lives of several generations of entomologists and their associates.
The Societys archives are here fully documented and indexed, thus providing the key that can unlock this storehouse of information and make it known and available to future historians and biographers. The archivist has also provided numerous extracts from the correspondence and papers, providing a clearer glimpse of what is behind the door.
It seems superfluous to write more, as the archivist has himself written a valuable introduction to the contents of this book and its subject matter. In addition, the book contains an excellent account by Brian Gardiner of the history of the Royal Entomological Society in relationship to the development of entomology in Britain, which provides an appropriate back-cloth to the archival material. This book fills a real gap, and I am sure that it will be much used by scholars of natural history, biographers and historians.
Roger Blackman
Former President
Brian O. C. Gardiner
From a little acorn doth grow a mighty oak. Thus might be described the steady progress of The Royal Entomological Society over the past 168 years. Founded in 1833 as The Entomological Society of London it applied for and was granted a Charter of incorporation by Queen Victoria in 1884, after which members became known as Fellows. The Society became Royal in 1933 when King George V approved this title on the occasion of the Societys centenary and he became its patron. The words of London were dropped from the title in 1991. It was felt that the now very large number of overseas Fellows many of whom contributed to the publications and indeed were far more able to attend meetings and other functions of the Society due to the speed and availability of modern travel compared to the past had made the Society truly an international one. The words of London had implications of being rather a local society.
