Project schedule and TODO

• Mon 17 November: orientation, J.P. and Bo all day; J.P. takes key
• Tue 18 Nov: J.P. in early (10-1300 writing seminar), around all day; Bo afternoon
  • Progress: four boxes unreviewed, two boxes reviewed and unlabelled, around two boxes of miscellaneous to re-box; 27 boxes from Bo’s first pass, 10 completed so far from this pass
• Wed 19 Nov: STOP WORK at the request of the University archives (was: J.P. all day, Bo afternoon, except for SIGMA seminar (Jan!) 12:30/14:00, complete general overview; Bo takes key for Thur; optional ECAN After-Work Social at Paradise Palms 17:309-19:30)
• Thu 20 Nov: STOP WORK (was: Bo in at morn (with key); J.P. around 1300; meet with Ben to discuss progress)
• Fri 21 Nov: STOP WORK (was: Bo remotely as available, J.P. in person: complete a draft and a plan)

STOP WORK plan for 19 Nov

• write down the contents of the boxes on the desk
• return boxes to their original rooms
• tidy office and return to original order
• ask Ben about blog post
• schedule meeting (Does MB need to be involved? Probably not, but I’ll check -JP)

Remote tasks

• chase digitisation with UoE Libraries, etc.
• read about modern archival practices, i.e. https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/archives/archive-principles-and-practice-an-introduction-to-archives-for-non-archivists.pdf and https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/how-to-compile-an-appraisal-report.pdf and https://www.irmt.org/documents/educ_training/public_sector_rec/IRMT_manage_archives.pdf and
• write queries about the collection
• insert Bo’s previous work (edit to fit into current set-up; reflect on need/use of returning to boxes previously worked through)

Queries

• What are the basic units for organisation here? They seem to be projects, fellowship records, administrative archives, etc. See “Register of files” in box labelled “[Safety audit, 1982-2007], [Fellow files], Medicine, Enlightenment and Scholarship 1680-1789”

• What are the privacy considerations for the fellow files? For living fellows? Deceased ones?

• How does the IASH use its process for intelligencing internationally? Locally?

• How does the IASH conceive of its own intelligencing process(es)?

• How does the IASH engage with its fellows, including and outwith its intelligencing process? Is there a sense of care? In which ways does it (attempt to) build a community that lasts beyond individual fellowships?

• Should the boxes be renumbered? Is there an original order hidden in these boxes?

• Is there a word for the bigger-than-a-file folio bags? Folio files? Files? Document wallet?

• Re reflexivity: the value in considering successful and unsuccessful fellowship applications alongside one another.

• Comparison with Rockefeller Foundation activities and strategies, e.g. in terms of centres of excellence; characteristics of ‘successful’ mathematicians; visualisation and analysis of networks.

• Would it be a helpful approach to focus on one specific project to investigate how the IASH may have used projects to grow a network and amass intelligence? IPSE?

• Are there interesting materials among these boxes in relation to cranks and crankpots? Collab with Colin?

Reflections from 16 September 2025

The materials on fellowships could allow for an examination of the way in which IASH engaged/engages in network-building and -maintenance. The different folders on visiting research fellowships, national fellowships, and Mellon fellowships seem to indicate an organising principle for fellowships. Potential issues with these materials are their seemingly uneven chronological distribution as well as possible confidentiality.

Queries for Abby (archivist meeting with Bo)

• What style of capitalisation should we use? Title Case? ALL CAPS IF ITS ON THE ITEM? Or sentence case?

Queries for Ben (Thursday with J.P. and Bo)

• Where is the crank file?

• Can we still write a preliminary blog post?

History and Scope

This is an incomplete inventory of the IASH archives in the IASH building. Bo and J.P. conducted this work from September 2025 until November 2025 in several stints. Of the boxes, some have been reviewed in an initial pass on 16 September 2025. These boxes have a Post-it brand note stuck to them with a note of their contents. Other boxes were reviewed between 17 November and 19 November before work stopped.

This document combines the two projects in a more-or-less coherent list, but the plan was to revise this into one coherent inventory. Forgive the inconsistency, which is a result of having to stop before finishing.

Overview of materials

The two rooms looked at (Susan Manning Library and storage room adjacent to room 30) contain appx. 40 large boxes of archival material, alongside smaller boxes, large folders, and a bag.

On 16 September 2025 contents of 25 large boxes were browsed in a precursory manner. The majority of materials appears to be correspondence and materials pertaining to various seminars, symposia, colloquia, and similar organised academic events. Another significant category relates to fellowships.

The description of materials details their dates, the type of materials found, as well as the topics that they relate to. The names for the described items have been constructed based on relevant contents as well as labels found on or in the boxes themselves.

Box list

Susan Manning Library

10 small card boxes with index cards, alphabetised

• These cards presumably serve as an index to the donated library of Susan Manning.

Large box (no.1) – Hume conference + IPSE exhibit 1986

• Late 1970s to 1980s.
• This box includes correspondence, newspaper clippings and newspaper articles. It also contains folders that largely pertain to conferences and seminars: including folders on the “specimen conference”, relating to J.T. Larocque; on the Hume conference in 1976; on the Institute Project Scottish Enlightenment (IPSE) exhibit on the Scottish Enlightenment in 1986; and on “educational values”. 

Large box (no.2) – Preparation IPSE exhibit 1986

• Appx. 1983-1986
• This box includes correspondence, planning and promotional materials, university bulletins, labels, invitations, and financial accounts. The materials largely pertain to the IPSE exhibit on the Scottish Enlightenment in 1986.

Large folder (no.1) – “A/BEA/11”

• 1970s to 1980s
• This folder contains information on various societies and conferences; it also includes materials relating to University theses from institutions such as the University of St. Andrews. Folders all include labels starting with the code A/BEA/11. This box potentially includes personal files.

Bag - National Library of Scotland

• This bag contains what appear to be individual cards with microfilm of paintings, including some from the British Museum Library.

Medium box (no.1) – Floppy disks + CDs

• Appx. 1988
• This box contains hard cases of floppy disks as well as some CDs. There is illegible writing on the outside of the box. The hard cases of floppy disks are labelled as follows: “tech project 88”; “fellows details”; “evolution or revolution”; “revolutions in science”. These materials seem to correspond to various projects and/or related fellowships.

Small box (no.1) – “IPSE 86: recordings of work in progress seminars (cassettes)”

• Appx. 1986
• This box contains cassette tapes labelled by last names and dates, relating to the IPSE exhibit on the Scottish Enlightenment in 1986.

Two medium boxes (no.2-3) – “box 1” and “box 2”

• 1991
• These boxes contain cassette tapes labelled with names and themes, sessions, or seminars.

Large box (no.3) – fellows + seminars+ admin communications 1969-1999

• Appx. 1969-1999
• This box contains correspondence and materials relating to seminars, such as the “COIMBRA” meeting; the IASH institute committee, office, and premises; fellowships; as well as miscellaneous archive materials.

Large box (no.4) – Finance + “values” + “revolutions in science”

• Appx. 1993-2000
• This box contains materials relating to academic events, including “revolutions in science” as well as various events and projects related to “values”, such as “educational values”. The box also contains a folder on the Gordon Cook Foundation, seemingly in relation to the “values” events. Finally, the box contains budget reports and transaction listings. 

Large box (no.5) – symposium “cultures and institutes” 1991

• Appx. 1985-1991
• This box contains varied materials. A significant part of the contents relates to a symposium on “cultures and institutes” in 1991, with some folders containing information on the entire symposium, and some relating to subconferences on specific themes. In addition to this, the box contains correspondence of the late 1980s, and diary planners for 1985-7 and 1996. Finally, it includes a manuscript entitled “An early seventeenth-century Scottish conversion narrative”, edited by David G. Mullan.

Large box (no.6) – literary computing symposium

• Appx. 1971 and 1990s-2000s
• The majority of the contents of this box concern conferences and symposia, in particular the Sir Walter Scott bicentenary conference of 1971 and the “symposium on the use of computing in literary research” of 1971, which seems to pertain to mathematics. The box also contains copies of papers to be circulated, as indicated on the papers, and diary planners of years within the 1990s-2000s.

Large folder (no.2) – Scottish history + culture

• This large folder contains multiple smaller folders on seminars and projects surrounding the theme of Scottish history and culture.

Large box (no.7) – “science and the arts” 1971

• Appx. 1971
• This box contains varied materials in the forms of printed materials, correspondence, planning information, accounts, and abstracts. The majority concerns the “science and the arts” conference of 1971, which seems to have been relevant to mathematics. In addition to this, the box includes folders on other seminars, largely about topics within the humanities, as well as folders on fellows and fellowship applications.

Large box (no.8) – “science and the arts” + “the value of the humanities in modern science”

• Appx. 1971
• This box contains printed brochures, correspondence, registration forms, and materials relating to conference fees. A significant part of the contents of the box concerns the “science and the arts” conference of 1971. In addition to this, there are materials on the colloquium “the value of the humanities in modern society” of 2006, as well as IASH brochures. 

Large box (no.9) – fellowships 70s-80s + emails

• 1970s-2002
• This box contains varied materials. Many folders in this box concern academic events, such as IPSE 1986, with materials including proposals and committee minutes. In addition to this, the box contains materials on fellows and fellowships during the 1970s-80s. The box also contains print-outs form the finance office.
• This box contains material that might be confidential, namely printed email correspondence dating from around 2002.

Large box (no.10) – “cultures and institutes” project 1991 + fellowships

• Late 1980s to 1991
• This box contains correspondence from the 1980s, as well as materials concerning the “cultures and institutes” project of 1991. The box also includes materials relating to fellowships relevant to the “cultures and institutes” project.

Large box (no.11) – correspondence + “evolution or revolution”

• 1970s to 2001
• This box includes correspondence, fellowship applications from the 1970s, and information on the project “evolution or revolution”.
• This box contains material that might be confidential, namely printed email correspondence dating from 1999-2001.

Large box (no.12) – seminars + tech 88

• Appx. 1988
• This box includes materials on the TeCH 88 project; ‘a major project on the theme of Technology, Communication and the Humanities.’1 In addition to this, the box contains materials on other seminars, as well as a folder with “withdrawn applications”, presumably of fellowships.
• This box contains material that might be confidential, namely a professor’s personal files.

Large box (no.13) – Leverhulme + Press + Mellon

• Appx. 1996-97
• This box contains varied materials, including information on various academic societies as well as University Press materials, such as offprints of literary works. In addition to this, the box concerns the Leverhulme conference in research, and includes files of Mellon fellowship applications of 1997-97, presumably relating to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Large box (no.14) – fellowships + withdrawals + V.R.F.

• 1980s-1992
• This box contains fellow and fellowship files and folders from the 1980s, including withdrawn applications. In addition to this, the box contains a folder labelled “unsuccessful V.R.F. applications, 1990-92”; this might refer to visiting research fellowship applications.

Large box (no.15) – European Enlightenment Seminars + accounts

• 1990s-2000s
• This box largely contains materials on seminars, such as the European Enlightenment Seminars. In addition to this, the box contains correspondence and financial accounts.
• This box contains material that might be confidential, namely printed email correspondence dating from the 1990s-2000s.

Medium box (no.4) – “Seminar Speakers II”

Medium box (no.5) (green)

• This box contains information on an event and/or project surrounding Scottish history and culture.

Storage room adjacent to room 30

[Four unexamined boxes:] these do not have Post-it brand notes or pencil writing on them

These four boxes have not been examined in either the preliminary process nor later on yet.

Box Labelled: Symposium on Mycenaen Writing, etc.

Symposium on Mycenaen Writing (1970, 1 folder) “C/MYC/8”

Oceanography Challenger Expedition Centenary (1972, 1 folder) “P/OCE/4”

Prestonfield, Edinburgh [promotional materials] (2007-2008, 2 folders)

Hands-on Video etc. (1990, 1 folder) contains “Running the British Economy”

[Fellowship files:] DR. RICHARD FARR, DR. DAVID DEAN, PROF SOPHIA MCNACHE [etc.] (1992-1994, 20 folders)

Correspondence [N-Z]. Nat. Gallery, National Library of Scotland, […] University of Edinburgh, VWXYZ (1985-1986, 13 folders)

Sensory World Conference (2011-2012, 1 folder and 1 document wallet)

Box Labelled: Hotbed of Genius, etc.

Hotbed of Genius. Correspondence. A-M. (1985-1986, appx. 10 folders) possibly continuing “Correspondence. Nat. Gallery …” in Box labelled: “Symposium on Mycenaen Writing”; full title “A Hotbed of Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment”

IPSE ‘86 (bulk 1986, 7 folders) contains “Press and Publicity Internal”, “The Mentor Group”, “Fellowship Applications and General Correspondence”

IPSE ‘86 (bulk 1985-1986, 6 folders) contains “Edinburgh District Council Correspondence”, “Scottish Postal Board”, “Accommodation”, “Initial Contacts”, “Liaison Committee”

IPSE ‘86 (bulk 1985-1986, 2 folders) contains “Day File: May 1985 - Oct 1985”, “Day File: Nov 1985 - Jan 1986”

IPSE ‘86 (bulk 1986, 2 folders) contains “Day File: Feb 1986 - April 1986” “May 1986 - July 1986”

Box Labelled: [Safety audit, 1982-2007], [Fellow files], Medicine, Enlightenment and Scholarship 1680-1789 etc.

[Safety audit, 1982-2007, 1 document wallet]

[Fellow files] (1990-1991, 18 folders) including “William B. Todd”

Medicine, Science and Enlightenment 1680-1789, conference (1998, 6 folders)

[Fellowship Reports from Fellows, 1972-1984, M-Z] (1972-1984, 1 document wallet)

[Conference materials, 1986] (1986, 1 document wallet)

[Conference programme and directory, 1988] (1988, 1 folder)

Register of files, etc. (1978-1989, 1 folder)

Box labelled: Adam Smith Exhibition, Tech 88, Prof. Daiches

Adam Smith Exhibition “Morals, Motives & Markets”, 1990. Working Papers (1990, 1 document wallet)

Tech 88. Correspondence, Mailing List (1988, 1 document wallet)

Professor Daiches, Personal Files, A/DAI/20 (ca. 1981-1983, 1 document wallet)

Box labelled: Conferences (11 folders), Invitation lists and invitations, Tech 88, Culture & multiculture (1991)

Conference on History of Education C/HIS/10, Humanists in France C/FRE/14, Petrarch/Boccaccio and Ariosto C/PET/15, […] International Symposium on Speech C/IS/24 (1973-1979, 11 folders)

[Invitation lists and invitations] (1970-1977, 1 document wallet)

1995 Diary (1995, 1 volume)

Tech 88 conference papers (1988, 1 document wallet)

Culture and multiculture conference papers, etc. (1991, 1 document wallet)

Box labelled: IPSE ‘86, Sir Walter Scott Bicentenary Conference 1971, accounts, out of date list of fellows 2000, miscellaneous materials

IPSE ‘86 (1983-1989, 5 folders) contains “Fellowship Applications: Info. and Data”, “IPSE Audio Equipment”, " “Tying Up” IPSE", “Fellowship Application: Unsuccesful IPSE/F41”, [Fellowship Applications 1983 IPSE ‘86]; IPSE stands for “Institute Project Scottish Enlightenment 1986”

Institute for Advanced Studies Accounts (ca. 1974-1988, 1 book)

[Sir Walter Scott Bicentenary Conference 1971] (1 folder)

Out of Date List of Fellows Archived Oct 2000 (ca.1974-1990, 2 folders)

IPSE ‘86 (ca.1985-1986, 2 folders) contains “IPSE Project 1986”, “IPSE Conference Information”

[Miscellaneous materials] (ca.1986-1993, 1 folder) contains “Scots at War: A Feasability Study”, conference promotional materials for “The Political Though of the Scottish Enlightenment in its European Context”, The University of Edinburgh music record covers

Box labelled: IPSE Learned Societies conferences, Hume Society; Hume conference 1986; IASH Occasional Papers, Dialogues with Darwin

IPSE. Learned Societies Conference. Hume Society (1986, 1 folder) “P/IPSE/ISI”, “HUME SOCIETY”, “IPSE/K2”, “ARCHIVED (1 Nov 86)”

HUME CONFERENCE 1986 (1986, 1 document wallet) containing chart of 1986 fellows overlap

IASH OCCASIONAL PAPERS. Dialogues with Darwin, Autumn 2009 (2009, 1 blue, paper document wallet)

[Pink plastic wallet with more on:] Dialogues with Darwin (2009, 1 pink, plastic document wallet)

Darwin and Lincoln on Race and Society, RSE/IASH Event, Friday 13 November (1 folder)

Darwin in Edinburgh 2009 (2009, 1 folder)

Darwin Anniversary (2009, 1 folder) related to “Dialogues with Darwin”

Belonging in the new Europe conference (2007, 1 document wallet)

IPSE Project 1986 (1986, 1 document wallet) “INDIVIDUAL SPONSORSHIP FOR FELLOWS”, “PROPOSAL FOR LECTURES (GENERAL)”, “GENERAL IPSE SPONSORSHIP/FUNDING”, “LECTURES (RSM)”, “LECTURES (ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDIN.)’

Box labelled: Hume conference 2010-2011, 4 dissertations, Mellon Fellowships East/Central Europe 2 of 2

HUME CONFERENCE 2010-2011, OTHER HUME TERCENTENARY PARAPHENALIA. (2009-2011, 1 document wallet)

[Dissertation:] Male-female friendship and English Fiction in the Mid-eighteenth century / Emma Donoghue (1996, 1 volume)

[Dissertation:] Convention, individuality and feminine musicianship / Erin Jane Atchison (2008, 1 volume)

[Dissertation:] Reflective operations in Edgar Allan Poe’s transatlantic reception / Maria Filippakopoulou (2003, 1 volume)

[Dissertation:] A new approach to the writing of Thomas Gray / Vincent Richard Quinn (1995, 1 volume)

MELLON FELLOWSHIPS EAST/CENTRAL EUROPE, CAORC, DIRECTORS WORKSHOP, 2 of 2 (1994-2005, 1 document wallet) “…CONTACTS”, “… RETURN VISITS”, “POLISH VISIT”, “VISIT TO CENTRAL EUROPE MARCH/APRIL 1998”, “MELLON DIRECTORS MEETING”, “FINANCE”, “MELLON FELLOWS AT IASH”

Medium box (no.6) (green) – “District jobs”

• This folder contains account balances, presumably relating to district jobs.

Medium box (no.7) (black) – finances

• 1990s
• This box contains financial materials, including credit slips, bank account statements, and correspondence. It relates to among others an IASH premiere investment account.

Large box (no.16) – Mellon + correspondence 1969-1991

• 1969-1991
• This box largely concerns correspondence, on topics including CARC. In addition to this, the box contains files on Mellon fellowships, presumably relating to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Large box (no.17) – CHCI + correspondence 1992-2011

• 1992, 1999-2011
• This box largely contains correspondence, including on topics such as conferences. In addition to this, the box contains materials relating to the European Science Foundation, as well as materials on the Consortium of Humanities Centres and Institutes (CHCI).
• This box contains material that might be confidential, namely printed email correspondence dating from 2009.

Large box (no.18) – correspondence 1980s-1990s + minutes

• 1980s-1990s
• This box contains correspondence regarding fellowships during the 1980s-1990s, as well as the minutes of IASH committee meetings.

Large box (no.19) – finance + proposals for fellowship societies + IASH admin

• This box contains varied materials, including folders relating to finances, conferences and seminars, and fellowships. It also contains IASH administrative documents, among others on computing. In terms of fellowships, the box includes materials on V.R.F., presumably visiting research fellowships, and on proposals for national fellowship societies. Seemingly relevant to this are the materials on international contacts and specified Indian contacts. Finally, the box contains materials on the Sawyer seminar on embodied values, which presumably relates to the Mellon Foundations’ Sawyer Seminars.

Large box (no.20) – fellow dossiers + Australian fellowships + “the value of the humanities in modern society”

• Appx. 2000s-2010s
• This box contains materials on Australian national fellowships and fellow dossiers, as well as materials on the colloquium “the value of the humanities in modern society” of 2006.
• This box contains material that might be confidential, namely fellow dossiers of 2014.

Large box (no.21) – tech 88 + correspondence 1980s, 1994-95 + fellow expense forms

• 1980s-2002
• This box contains varied materials, including correspondence, a diary planner for 1988, printed materials, and planning and correspondence materials on various projects and events. A significant part of the contents of the box relates to the TeCH 88 project and seminar, as well as TeCH 88 fellowships. In addition to this, the box contains materials on the project “the future of the archives”.
• This box contains material that might be confidential, namely fellow expense forms of 2002.

Large box (no.22) – correspondence 1989-90, ’97 + unsuccessful V.R.F. app 2000-2002

• Appx. 1989-2003
• This box contains correspondence, conference abstracts for the visual knowledges conference of 2003, and application files relating to unsuccessful V.R.F. applications between 2000-2002.

Medium box (no.8) (black)

• 1996
• This box contains financial documents from 1996.

Medium box (no.9) (black) – “Day Files 1992 + 1993”

• 1992-93
• This box contains correspondence, also labelled as ‘day files’, from 1992-93.

Large box (no.23) – fellowships 1981-82 + accounts + Japanese fellowships

• 1973, 1981-82, 2000
• This box contains varied materials, including materials on fellowships, finances, and conferences. The box includes fellowship applications and enquiries for 1981-82 as well as proposals for Japanese national fellowships, alongside presumably relevant contacts. In addition to this, the box contains an IASH account book for 1973. In terms of conferences, the box contains materials relating to a Scotland and Russia conference of 2000 and to the conference on “the future of the archives”.

Large box (no.24) – Finance 2003-2011 + correspondence ’89 + invoices 2009-2012

• Appx. 1989-2012
• This box contains correspondence, financial documents, and a published magazine relating to the National Library of Scotland.
• This box contains material that might be confidential, namely transactional listings and budget reports from 2003-2011 and invoices from 2009-2012.

Large box (no.25) – Scott bicentenary + literary computing + national museum Scotland + correspondence early 1990s

• 1990s
• This box contains correspondence, press releases, drawings and sketches, promotional materials, accounts, and minutes. The drawings and sketches seemingly relate to the National Museum of Scotland. The box also contains printed materials on Prestonfield House. In addition to this, the box includes materials on conferences, such as publicity documents for the Sir Walter Scott Bicentenary conference and accounts and minutes for the Literary Computing conference, with the latter seeming relevant to mathematics.