Letter from John Collier to Philip Lutley Sclater regarding permission to paint in the Zoological Gardens

Correspondence between British Museum (Natural History) and Geoffrey Marr Vevers regarding a report of a Black-Headed Gull to the Bird-Ringing Committee at the British Museum of Natural History, articles on Okapi by Reginald Innes Pocock, an account of the baby Dendrohyrax by Cecil Stanley Webb , Antarctic Seals, skins and skulls of small carnivores, the fox which the Zoological Society of London received from Tel Aviv Gardens, an exhibition of Tree Hyraxes, exhibits for Major Cottam, donations of specimens to the British Museum (Natural History), mongoose skins, Tangier Smith's location in Sze Chuan to locate the original Pandas, the release of Kodiak Bears at Whipsnade Zoo, publications by Doubleday on the Giant Panda, rings for a Golden Eagle from the Bird-Ringing Committee, the species of Monkey from Northern Nigeria, a Leopard from the Himalayas, measurements of the Kodiak Bears called Kam and Schatka at Whipsnade, and a donation of Hedgehogs to the USA

Lists specimens sent to the Natural History Museum

It was proposed in the setting up of ZSL that there would be a museum for zoological specimens, and items began being collected c.1827 including a collection of Sumatran specimens donated by Lady Sophia Raffles, widow of ZSL founder Sir Stamford Raffles. The museum was housed firstly within our office building at 33 Bruton Street in central London, and charged entry for people to visit. Many specimens were donated by fellows, John Gould donated his collection of Himalayan birds in 1831 to the museum, for example. The museum proved very popular, and grew at such a rate that it was one of the reasons for moving office to Leicester square. It was decided that the Society either needed to purchase a dedicated building for it - or to disperse the collection. ZSL Council chose the latter, and by 1855 the collection had been dispersed to various other collections including the British Museum (Natural History) and Norwich Museum.

Includes: Report on the value of the Reserved Collection, 1851; Dr Crisp. Museum Stores; List of Animals Presented to the Norwich Collection; Catalogue of specimens of cruise, 1849; etc. Also includes printed extracts from the Annual Reports regarding the Museum, and a printed petition to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to buy the collection. The Dr Crisp item is a list of articles purchased by him from the Museum, including the skin of a giraffe. 

List of skeletons held in the Museum, whence obtained and observations

List of specimens sent to British Museum. Presumably compiled by JE Gray and GR Gray before their published version in 1846. Lists reveal 803 mammals, 4425 birds, 663 bird skins, 21 human skulls with origins

"List of the Specimens of Mammalia in the Collection of the British Museum.", 1843. Copy signed by Hodgson. Not annotated. "List of the Specimens of Birds in the Collection of the British Museum. Part I - Accipitres.", 1844. Copy signed by Hodgson. Not annotated. "Catalogue of the Specimens of Mammalia in the Collection of the British Museum. Part III. Ungulata furcipeda.", 1852. Copy annotated by Hodgson. "Catalogue of the Specimens and Drawings of Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes of Nepal and Tibet, presented by B.H. Hodgson, Esq., to the British Museum. Second Edition.", 1863. Three copies annotated by Hodgson.

Report on the status and operation of the British Museum (Natural History), and damage suffered as a result of enemy action

Letters from Thomas Barbour of the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge Massachusetts, regarding anoles and Joan Procter's paper on Loveridge's Tortoise, her appointment at the Zoological Society of London, lost reprints, and the Zoological Record