Catalogue description British Museum (Natural History): Department of Palaeontology: Acquisition, Loan and Exchanges: Correspondence and Papers

This series consists of papers relating to acquisitions, loans and exchanges of the British Museum (Natural History) Department of Palaeontology.

It comprises correspondence, lists, notes and catalogues of specimens offered to the Museum as gifts or for purchase, together with correspondence and papers relating to the distribution and exchanges of duplicates. Some are written by the original donor or vendor; others were prepared by staff after the arrival of the specimens. Some papers relate to the acquisition of a single specimen, others, such as DF 105/30, to the purchase of a large collection. The whole range of the Department's collections is covered in the series, although records of collections of fossil vertebrates predominate.

The papers which make up items DF 105/1-3 were gathered together by the bibliographer C D Sherborn (1861-1942), and bear his annotations. The remainder of the series was assembled in the Library from papers previously held throughout the Department.

Many other lists and catalogues of specimens held in the Museum are to be found among the Manuscripts in the Palaeontology Library.

Access conditions: Subject to 30 year closure

Custodial history: The series was transferred to the archives in 1992

• People: Charles Davies Sherborn (1861-1942)

There are word-processed piece lists of DF 105/1-3, and a word-processed name index to the series held in the Natural History Museum Archives