Beesly Papers

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0103 BEESLY
Held at	: University College London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Library/special-coll ›
Full title	: Beesly Papers
Date(s)	: 1852-1915
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 5 boxes
Name of creator(s)	: Beesly | Edward Spencer | 1831-1915 | positivist and historian Beesly family
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Edward Spencer Beesly went to Wadham College Oxford, graduating in 1854. In 1859 he was appointed Principal of University Hall, London. He was Professor of History at University College London, 1860-1893, and also Professor of Latin at Bedford College London, 1860-1889. In 1869 he married Henry Crompton's sister Emily. In 1882 he was a radical candidate for Marylebone and in 1885 a radical candidate for Westminster. In 1893 he became editor of the Positivist Review. Beesly died in 1915.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

The collection contains correspondence; lecture notes on history; newspaper cuttings; papers of other members of the family, including an undated letter of Danton which belonged to A H Beesly; printed reports; pamphlets containing articles by or about Beesly; other pamphlets and reviews; other printed works; and an autographed photograph of Karl Marx. The correspondence is rather slight and only isolated letters from individual correspondents are preserved. There are sets of Beesly's own letters to Henry Crompton and to Frederic Harrison which were probably returned to the family after his death. There are also a few letters to Beesly's brother A H Beesly and to Alfred Beesly, E S Beesly's son.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Open.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Normal copyright restrictions apply.

Finding aids:

Handlist and name index.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Presented by Beesly's grandchildren in 1960.

Allied Materials

Related material:

University College London Special Collections also holds letters of Edward Spencer Beesly relating to University College London business, 1860, 1870, 1887-1888 (Ref: COLLEGE CORRESPONDENCE).

Correspondence of Beesly is also held at the British Library, Manuscript Collections; British Library of Political and Economic Science; Bishopsgate Institute, London; Maison D'Auguste Comte, Paris. For further details see the National Register of Archives.

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:

Date(s) of descriptions:
1999, revised Oct 2001