SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 SC
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Date(s)	: 1508-2008
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 2013.5 linear metres (SC/OS, SC/PHL and SC/PZ only).
Name of creator(s)	: Various.

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

This collection of photographs had its origins in the Greater London Council (GLC) Architect's Department.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

The Special Collections fonds comprises four important collections of graphic material: prints and maps from the Guildhall Library; Ordnance Survey maps; the photograph library and a collection of prints.

The Guildhall Library Prints and Maps collection is a diverse collection of graphic material relating to the City of London and surrounding areas, 1553-2008; including prints, sketches, drawings, engravings, etchings, panoramas, photographs and lantern slides of various subjects including streets and buildings, Second World War bomb damage, churches, people, City of London Corporation personnel and events including the Lord Mayor, statues and memorials, the Thames, and markets. Also maps, plans and surveys of London and surrounding counties, London streets, parish boundaries, railways, tramways, and sewers. With a collection of ephemeral items including posters, bills, cuttings, printed menus, invitations, exhibition ephemera, playing cards, trade cards, booksellers' labels, satires, and theatre playbills and programmes.

Ordnance Survey maps of Kent, 1894-1939; London, 1848-1940; and Middlesex, 1863-1914.

The prints collection is arranged by area of London, including views of streets and buildings in Bermondsey, Bethnal Green, Battersea, Chelsea, Camberwell, City of London, Deptford, Finsbury, Fulham, Greenwich, Holborn, Hackney, Hammersmith, Hampstead, Islington, Kensington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Paddington, Poplar, Shoreditch, Saint Marylebone, Stoke Newington, Saint Pancras, Stepney, Southwark, Wandsworth, Tower of London, Westminster, and Woolwich; 1508-1988.

The photograph library, 1890-1986, includes photographs of streets organised by borough, including Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Hammersmith and Fulham, City of London, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth and Westminster. Also photographs of subjects including London County Council and Greater London Council personnel, buildings and services; parks; statues; events and visits; important buildings; schools and educational services; rivers; fountains; industrial sites; healthcare services; museums; almshouses; lodging houses; youth clubs; social problems; docks; transport; churches and chapels; emergency services; libraries; restaurants and public houses.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

SC/GL: Guildhall Library Prints and Maps; SC/OS: Ordnance Survey; SC/PHL: Photograph Library; SC/PZ: Prints.

Conditions governing access:

Available for general access.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The material in this collection was accessioned at various dates.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
August to October 2010.