University of London Archives | Details

Sidebar content	Main content
Actions Help FAQs Can't find what you're looking for? Browse Collections A-Z University of London	Herbert Spencer papers Remove from selection Add to selection Request this item TitleHerbert Spencer papers Held atSenate House Library, University of London Reference codeMS791 Date1830-1936 Creator Spencer, Herbert (1820-1903) philosopher and social theoristMore Info on CreatorLess Info on Creator Herbert Spencer was born in Derby and educated at Derby Grammar School and privately by his uncle, Rev Thomas Spencer, in Somerset. Instead of going to university, he trained as a civil engineer and spent several years working for railway companies. He dabbled in mechanical inventing and read widely before becoming a journalist for The Economist in London (1848-1853). Inheriting money on his uncle Thomas's death, he was able to pursue an independent writing career, producing several works of sociology and philosophy. His views are now seen as largely conforming to classical liberalism. Scope and ContentCorrespondence, papers, drawings and newspaper cuttings relating to Herbert Spencer. Also contains photographs, portraits and drawings of Spencer, his family and other subjects, 1830-1936, as well as minutes of meetings of Herbert Spencer's trustees (1905-1936). Correspondents include Sir Robert Peel, Richard Cobden, John Bright, Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Sir John Herschel, Charles Darwin, George Grote, Edward Henry Stanley, Benjamin Jowett, John Stuart Mill, Charles Kingsley, Edward Stanley [fourteenth earl of Derby], Thomas Henry Huxley, William Gladstone, Leslie Stephen, Beatrice Webb, Sir Hubert Parry, James Anthony Froude, Lord Queensberry. Subjects include philosophy. NotesPermission should be sought from Senate House Library before any of these papers are photocopied or quoted from for publications. Publications based on these papers must also include an acknowledgement of the Athenaeum (the depositor) and Senate House Library. Conditions governing accessOpen for research. Access to individual items in Senate House Library archives collections may be restricted under the Data Protection Act or the Freedom of Information Act. See Archivist for details. At least 24 hours notice is necessary for research visits. Extent1 box, 8 volumes Finding aidsA hand-list and index is based on the list and index of correspondence made by Miss Rosemary Griffin, formerly of the Athenaeum Library, in 1970. This contains details of correspondents and dates of items, with descriptions of the contents of some items. A pdf copy is attached to this collection-level description. Related files http://archives.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/resources/MS791-catalogue.pdf The British Library, London, holds literary manuscripts (Ref: Add MSS 36883-96, 43831), letters from Mary Ann Cross (known as George Eliot), 1851-1902 (Ref: Add MS 65530), and correspondence with William Ewart Gladstone, 1873-1896 (Ref: Add MSS 44441-785); the University of Chicago Library, Illinois, USA, has letters to Sir Percy William Bunting, 1882-1895; Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, USA, contains correspondence, 1849-1903 (Ref: NUC MS 66-835); the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, USA, holds letters to Andrew Carnegie, 1883-1903; the Huntington Library, California, USA, has letters, mainly to John Fiske, 1864-1894; University College London holds letters to Sir Francis Galton, 1888-1897 (Ref: Galton papers), correspondence with George Croom Robertson (Ref: MS ADD 88), and letters to James Sully (Ref: MS ADD 158); the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, has letters to Alexander Campbell Fraser, 1853-1881 (Ref: Dep 208); the British Library of Political and Economic Science, London, contains letters to Frederic Harrison, 1885-1901, and letters to Martha Beatrice Webb, Lady Passfield, and Sidney James Webb, Baron Passfield (Ref: Passfield); the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA, contains letters to Rowland G Hazard, 1869-1886; the Royal Society, London, holds correspondence with Sir John Frederic William Herschel, 1st Bt, (Ref: HS); the Co-operative Union Archive, Manchester, has letters to George Jacob Holyoake, 1860-1903 (Ref: MM/96636/1-12); Imperial College, London, contains letters to Thomas Henry Huxley, 1852-1900 (Ref: B/Huxley); Trinity College Dublin holds correspondence with Catherina Elizabeth Baldeswina Lecky, 1875-1903 (Ref: MSS 1827-36, 1931); Exeter University University has letters to Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer; Northwestern University Library, Illinois, USA, contains correspondence with John Stuart Mill; the Royal Institution of Great Britain, London, has letters. Level of descriptionfonds

TitleHerbert Spencer papers

Held atSenate House Library, University of London

Reference codeMS791

Date1830-1936

Creator
- Spencer, Herbert (1820-1903) philosopher and social theoristMore Info on CreatorLess Info on Creator
  Herbert Spencer was born in Derby and educated at Derby Grammar School and privately by his uncle, Rev Thomas Spencer, in Somerset. Instead of going to university, he trained as a civil engineer and spent several years working for railway companies. He dabbled in mechanical inventing and read widely before becoming a journalist for The Economist in London (1848-1853). Inheriting money on his uncle Thomas's death, he was able to pursue an independent writing career, producing several works of sociology and philosophy. His views are now seen as largely conforming to classical liberalism.

Scope and ContentCorrespondence, papers, drawings and newspaper cuttings relating to Herbert Spencer. Also contains photographs, portraits and drawings of Spencer, his family and other subjects, 1830-1936, as well as minutes of meetings of Herbert Spencer's trustees (1905-1936). Correspondents include Sir Robert Peel, Richard Cobden, John Bright, Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Sir John Herschel, Charles Darwin, George Grote, Edward Henry Stanley, Benjamin Jowett, John Stuart Mill, Charles Kingsley, Edward Stanley [fourteenth earl of Derby], Thomas Henry Huxley, William Gladstone, Leslie Stephen, Beatrice Webb, Sir Hubert Parry, James Anthony Froude, Lord Queensberry. Subjects include philosophy.

NotesPermission should be sought from Senate House Library before any of these papers are photocopied or quoted from for publications. Publications based on these papers must also include an acknowledgement of the Athenaeum (the depositor) and Senate House Library.

Conditions governing accessOpen for research. Access to individual items in Senate House Library archives collections may be restricted under the Data Protection Act or the Freedom of Information Act. See Archivist for details. At least 24 hours notice is necessary for research visits.

Extent1 box, 8 volumes

Finding aidsA hand-list and index is based on the list and index of correspondence made by Miss Rosemary Griffin, formerly of the Athenaeum Library, in 1970. This contains details of correspondents and dates of items, with descriptions of the contents of some items. A pdf copy is attached to this collection-level description.

Related files

http://archives.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/resources/MS791-catalogue.pdf

The British Library, London, holds literary manuscripts (Ref: Add MSS 36883-96, 43831), letters from Mary Ann Cross (known as George Eliot), 1851-1902 (Ref: Add MS 65530), and correspondence with William Ewart Gladstone, 1873-1896 (Ref: Add MSS 44441-785); the University of Chicago Library, Illinois, USA, has letters to Sir Percy William Bunting, 1882-1895; Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, USA, contains correspondence, 1849-1903 (Ref: NUC MS 66-835); the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, USA, holds letters to Andrew Carnegie, 1883-1903; the Huntington Library, California, USA, has letters, mainly to John Fiske, 1864-1894; University College London holds letters to Sir Francis Galton, 1888-1897 (Ref: Galton papers), correspondence with George Croom Robertson (Ref: MS ADD 88), and letters to James Sully (Ref: MS ADD 158); the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, has letters to Alexander Campbell Fraser, 1853-1881 (Ref: Dep 208); the British Library of Political and Economic Science, London, contains letters to Frederic Harrison, 1885-1901, and letters to Martha Beatrice Webb, Lady Passfield, and Sidney James Webb, Baron Passfield (Ref: Passfield); the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA, contains letters to Rowland G Hazard, 1869-1886; the Royal Society, London, holds correspondence with Sir John Frederic William Herschel, 1st Bt, (Ref: HS); the Co-operative Union Archive, Manchester, has letters to George Jacob Holyoake, 1860-1903 (Ref: MM/96636/1-12); Imperial College, London, contains letters to Thomas Henry Huxley, 1852-1900 (Ref: B/Huxley); Trinity College Dublin holds correspondence with Catherina Elizabeth Baldeswina Lecky, 1875-1903 (Ref: MSS 1827-36, 1931); Exeter University University has letters to Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer; Northwestern University Library, Illinois, USA, contains correspondence with John Stuart Mill; the Royal Institution of Great Britain, London, has letters.

Level of descriptionfonds

Item request date
Expected return date
Destination