IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0103 MS ADD 28
Held at: University College London
Title: Grant Papers
Date(s): 1813-1823
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 1 volume
Name of creator(s): Grant | Robert Edmond | 1793-1874 | comparative anatomist
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Robert Grant was born in Edinburgh on 11 November 1793. He was educated at Edinburgh High School and at the University of Edinburgh, graduating M.D. in 1814. From 1815 to 1820 Grant studied medicine and natural history in Paris and at many continental universities. He returned to Edinburgh in 1820 and devoted himself to natural history. In 1824 he gave lectures on comparative anatomy of the invertebrate for his friend Dr John Barclay, and he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He believed in the transformation of species and the Darwinian theory of natural selection. Charles Darwin was his intimate companion in study. Grant wrote numerous original papers during this period. In June 1827 he was elected Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Zoology at University College London and became absorbed in teaching for the next 46 years. He also lectured at other institutions. In 1836 he became a fellow of the Royal Society. Grant died on 23 August 1874 at the age of 80.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Essays on medical subjects (1813-1815); notes on lectures delivered by John Barclay on comparative anatomy (1821); notes on the geology of Scotland (1823).
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Open. The papers are available subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Photocopies/photographs/microfilm are supplied for private research only at the Archivist's discretion. Please note that material may be unsuitable for copying on conservation grounds, and that photographs cannot be photocopied in any circumstances. Researchers who wish to publish material must seek copyright permission from the copyright owner.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Collection level description.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Bequeathed to Unversity College London by Grant.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
University College London Special Collections also holds a student's notes on Grant's lectures in comparative anatomy delivered at University College London (UCL), 1830, with a printed copy of an examination paper in comparative anatomy, 1831 (Ref: MS ADD 1); students' notes on Grant's lectures on comparative anatomy at UCL in 1832-1834 (Ref: MS ADD 38-9); a catalogue of Grant's library, in his own hand, post-1861 (MS ADD 58); two lists of specimens, instruments, etc, 1850 (Ref: MS ADD 59); notes by a student, John Phillips Potter, on lectures by Grant at UCL, 1841 (Ref: MS ADD 343); Grant's diplomas, 1814-1874, with some letters, 1871-1874 (Ref: COLLEGE ARCHIVES); letters of Grant relating to specimens and to UCL business, 1827-1875 (Ref: COLLEGE CORRESPONDENCE, including APPLICATIONS and MEDICAL FACULTY).
British Library, Manuscript Collections, holds lecture notes of Grant, 1853 (Ref: Add MS 31197).
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Source: National Register of Archives.
Date(s) of descriptions: 1999, revised Aug 2001