Sub-sub-fonds
British Museum (Natural History): Department of Zoology: Keeper's correspondence...
Catalogue reference: DF 200
What’s it about?
This record is about the British Museum (Natural History): Department of Zoology: Keeper's correspondence... dating from 1819-1974.
Is it available online?
Maybe, but not on The National Archives website. This record is held at The Natural History Museum Archives, London. How to view it.
Can I see it in person?
Not at The National Archives, but you may be able to view it in person at The Natural History Museum Archives, London. How to view it.
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- DF 200
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Title (The name of the record)
- British Museum (Natural History): Department of Zoology: Keeper's correspondence and files
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1819-1974
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Description (What the record is about)
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The earliest letters in this series date from well before the founding of the Department in 1856. Thirteen Keepers are represented so far, together with many other members of the Department. The records deal with departmental administration, accessions to the museum's collection, general zoological and curatorial topics, and the research interests of successive keepers.
Series held at The Natural History Museum are catalogued more fully in its online catalogue (reference DF ZOO/200). Online descriptions of some individual records can also be viewed on Discovery, see DF 200.
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Arrangement (Information about the filing sequence or logical order of the record)
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The series consists of bound letterbooks (DF 200/1-52, DF 200/144-146), bundles of loose letters (DF 200/63-72, DF 200/97-117), and letters in files (DF 200/73-96), files relating to an individual writer (DF 200/118-143) and subject files (DF 200/118-143; DF 200/157-213). Pieces DF 200/1-72 consist of incoming letters only; DF 200/73-143 contain both incoming and outgoing letters. The series is in its original order except that DF 200/53-60 have been arranged as a single chronological series. At the same time a start was made in re-arranging DF 200/118-143 into five year collections. Work was completed on the letters A and B before the collection was transferred to the archives. DF 200/144-146 are the remnant of an early correspondence collection, the rest of which is lost. The subject files which comprise DF 200/157-213 were removed from the correspondence and files boxes for 1921-1945 (DF 200/73-96) in 1997 and listed individually.
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Related material (A cross-reference to other related records)
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Related papers are to be found in the British Museum Archives, the Gunther Collection in the Natural History Museum General Library and the J E Gray collection in the Department of Zoology Manuscripts
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Separated material (A cross-reference between records that are related by provenance but now kept separately)
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Letters and memoranda relating to the insect collections after the formation of the Department of Entomology are in:
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The Natural History Museum Archives, London
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
- 212 boxes, files and volumes
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Access conditions (Information on conditions that restrict or affect access to the record)
- Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated
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Immediate source of acquisition (When and where the record was acquired from)
- DF 200/1-113; DF 200/117-125 and DF 200/144-146 were transferred to the archives in 1982 and DF 114-116 and DF 200/126-150 in 1989
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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- Topics
- Research
- Museums and galleries
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Accruals (Indicates whether the archive expects to receive further records in future)
- Series is accruing
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Unpublished finding aids (A note of unpublished indexes, lists or guides to the record)
- Held at the Natural History Museum Archives is a card index to writers represented in the letterbooks, contemporary registers for material dated 1990-1920, and another card index to the correspondence files for 1921-1945. There are rough database entries indexing DF 200/53-64 and DF 200/118-143 held at the Natural History Museum Archives
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C15848/
How to order it
- View this record page in our current catalogue
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Catalogue hierarchy
You are currently looking at the sub-sub-fonds: DF 200
British Museum (Natural History): Department of Zoology: Keeper's correspondence and files