Home

Introduction

The Library

Joseph Needham

Science and
Civilisation
in China (SCC)

Other Publications

Staff and Researchers

The Newsletter

Seminars and workshops

Research
Opportunities

East Asian History of Science Library

ARCHIVES

The Needham Research Institute has retained the extensive and valuable archives relating to Dr. Needham's preparation of the volumes of ‘Science and Civilisation in China’, and other China-related publications.  In 2004, the Institute was most fortunate to receive a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to enable these materials to be catalogued and preserved.  The grant enabled the employment of a professional archivist, Ms. Joanne Meek, to work on the material for a period of 3 years.  This allowed for the creation of a very detailed item-level catalogue of over 21,000 items.

The collection has at its core 389 files of notes, correspondence and photographs covering every topic of Dr. Needham’s grand plan for 'Science and Civilisation in China', many with numerous sub-files.  In addition there are important peripheral files relating to lectures given and conferences attended; travel; parallel publications; organisations; contacts etc., as well as files concerning the practicalities of publishing the work.

The catalogue was completed in September 2007 and is now available on the Cambridge website Janus, which provides a single point of networked access to catalogues of archives and manuscript collections held throughout Cambridge. 
To search the catalogue, click here.

The imminent completion of the project was celebrated by a meeting of scholars and friends at the Institute on 25^th May 2007.  Dr. Christopher Cullen opened the meeting with an interesting general introduction to the ‘SCC’ project.  Archivist Joanne Meek then provided a detailed overview of the contents of the archive and the work undertaken during the course of the project.  We were then pleased to welcome Wang Guozhong of the Joseph Needham Materials Centre, Shanghai, an institution dedicated to the study of Needham’s life and work.  Mr. Wang provided an introduction to the work of the Centre and described some of the fruits of its research and plans for the future.

To view the powerpoint presentation given by Joanne Meek, please click here

The archives are open by appointment only.  For enquiries please contact Librarian, John P.C. Moffett, at the address on the home page, or by e-mail to: jm10019@cam.ac.uk

Archives at other repositories

Another large collection of Dr. Needham's archives - covering his biochemical work, UNESCO, private life, and other interests - are deposited in Cambridge University Library. They have been catalogued by the National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists (NCUACS) in Bath, who have produced a three volume catalogue and a supplement. 
The catalogue is available for searching on-line at the Access to Archives website.

For further enquiries about these materials, please contact Dr. Patrick Zutshi, Manuscripts Department, University Library, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DR, U.K.  

NCUACS have also prepared a catalogue of Dr. Needham's archives relating to chemical and biological warfare, which are deposited in the Imperial War Museum, London.
Please direct further enquiries to: The Department of Documents, Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ, United Kingdom.

Again this catalogue is available for searching on-line at the Access to Archives website.

THE LIBRARY IS OPEN from 10.00 to 16.30 on weekdays. Visits are by appointment only. Books may only be consulted in the Library, and are not borrowable under any circumstances.

To enquire about using the Library, please contact the Librarian, John P.C. Moffett, at the address on  the home page, or by e-mail to: jm10019[put the "at" sign here]cam.ac.uk

Library Webpage Contents
    Home page
    Holdings and Access:
       Monographs
       Serials
       Archives
       Off-prints and photographs
       Donations