Catalogue description British Museum (Natural History): Department of Zoology: Invertebrate Section: Correspondence and Papers

This series consists of the correspondence, notes, research papers and catalogues compiled by members of the Invertebrate Section of the Zoology Department. The largest collection consists of the correspondence of Francis Jeffrey Bell (1855-1924), and contains about 2000 in-coming and 1500 out-going letters. Smaller correspondence collections of Edward John Miers (1851-1930) and Reginald Innes Pocock (1863-1947) are also included. The series also contains an important series of catalogues of invertebrate groups started by F J Bell and Randolph Kirkpatrick in the early 1890s, and added to over the years thereafter.

F J Bell's out-letter volumes each has an index.

Access conditions: Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated

DF 250/1-18 were transferred to the archives in 1982; DF 250/19 and DF 250/25-31 in 1990; DF 250/20-24 and DF 250/32-34 in 1991; DF 250/35-39 in 1992.

• Museums and galleries

There is an index to DF 250/20-24.

Edgar Albert Smith (1847-1916) was head of the Invertebrate Section from 1867, when he joined the Museum, until he retired in 1913. Other members of the Section included F J Bell, worms, echinoderms and Crustacea, 1878-1919; S O Ridley, sponges, 1878-1886; E J Miers, Crustacea, 1872-1886 and R I Pocock, Arachnida and Myriapoda, 1886-1904.