Financial account books of the Royal Society
Item
Country
GB
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
eng
Contact information: postal address
6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG
Contact information: phone number
0044 2074512500
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
library@royalsociety.org
Reference number
AB
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (official language of the state)
Financial account books of the Royal Society
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
The Royal Society
Date(s)
1660/2004
Language(s)
eng
Extent
15 cubic feet
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This series comprises financial account books of the Royal Society divided into two chronological groups. The first series contains the early financial accounts of the Royal Society, from 1660 to 1768. The second series consists of cash books and ledgers of the 19th and 20th centuries (1867-1976). A third section contains copies of the Royal Society's Annual Accounts, both signed and unsigned.
Much of the material contained in the first series deals with the financial state of the Royal Society during the Presidency of James West (1703-72) when the Portuguese Jew Emanuel Mendes da Costa (1717-91) served as clerk, librarian, and keeper. Mendes da Costa was appointed to this office in 1763 but, four years later, he was discovered to be withholding Royal Society members' subscription fees, was convicted of fraud, and sentenced to five years in debtors' prison. Thus, this fonds contains abundant information on both Emanuel Mendes da Costa's work as clerk (AB/1/2/4), the case against him (for instance, AB/1/2/1/137), as well as correspondence exchanged with other fellows, such as William Price (AB/1/2/1/84) and James West (AB/1/2/1/70, AB/1/2/1/73).
Much of the material contained in the first series deals with the financial state of the Royal Society during the Presidency of James West (1703-72) when the Portuguese Jew Emanuel Mendes da Costa (1717-91) served as clerk, librarian, and keeper. Mendes da Costa was appointed to this office in 1763 but, four years later, he was discovered to be withholding Royal Society members' subscription fees, was convicted of fraud, and sentenced to five years in debtors' prison. Thus, this fonds contains abundant information on both Emanuel Mendes da Costa's work as clerk (AB/1/2/4), the case against him (for instance, AB/1/2/1/137), as well as correspondence exchanged with other fellows, such as William Price (AB/1/2/1/84) and James West (AB/1/2/1/70, AB/1/2/1/73).
Administrative / Biographical history
The Royal Society is the oldest national scientific society in the world and the leading British organisation for the promotion of scientific research. It originated on November 28, 1660, when 12 men met after a lecture at Gresham College, London, by Christopher Wren (1632-1723), then professor of astronomy at the college, and resolved to set up a college for the promoting of "Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning". Those present included the scientists Robert Boyle (1627-91) and Bishop John Wilkins (1614-72) and the courtiers Sir Robert Moray (1609-73) and William, 2nd Viscount Brouncker (1620-84).
This group's ambition to create a national society devoted to the promotion of science was put into effect over the next few years, particularly through a charter of incorporation granted by Charles II in 1662 and revised in 1663. The royal charter provided an institutional structure for the society, with a president, treasurer, secretaries, and council. Though it had royal patronage almost from the start, the society has always remained a voluntary organisation, independent of the British state.
A key development of the Royal Society was the establishment in 1665 of a periodical that acted as the society's mouthpiece, the Philosophical Transactions, which still flourishes today as the oldest scientific journal in continuous publication.
The presidency of Isaac Newton from 1703 to 1727 saw this great mathematician and physicist asserting the society's dominant role in science in Britain and farther afield. Endowments from the 18th century onward made possible prizes for various aspects of science that are still awarded today. In the 1830s, a reform program reinvigorated the society and restored it to a prominence that it has retained ever since.
Since 1967, the society has occupied premises in Carlton House Terrace, London, where meetings are held, and the society's extensive archival and other resources are housed.
This group's ambition to create a national society devoted to the promotion of science was put into effect over the next few years, particularly through a charter of incorporation granted by Charles II in 1662 and revised in 1663. The royal charter provided an institutional structure for the society, with a president, treasurer, secretaries, and council. Though it had royal patronage almost from the start, the society has always remained a voluntary organisation, independent of the British state.
A key development of the Royal Society was the establishment in 1665 of a periodical that acted as the society's mouthpiece, the Philosophical Transactions, which still flourishes today as the oldest scientific journal in continuous publication.
The presidency of Isaac Newton from 1703 to 1727 saw this great mathematician and physicist asserting the society's dominant role in science in Britain and farther afield. Endowments from the 18th century onward made possible prizes for various aspects of science that are still awarded today. In the 1830s, a reform program reinvigorated the society and restored it to a prominence that it has retained ever since.
Since 1967, the society has occupied premises in Carlton House Terrace, London, where meetings are held, and the society's extensive archival and other resources are housed.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The fonds is divided into three series: AB/1 Early Account Books and Financial Papers; AB/2 Cash Books and Ledgers; and AB/3 Annual Accounts.
Access, restrictions
Records closed for 30 years from date of creation.
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2023
Bibliography
Linked resources
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