Cambridge University Library

Cambridge University Library contains many significant collections related to horticulture, botany, and agriculture. In addition to the major collections described below, CUL holds manuscripts and papers of Cambridge naturalists and botanists. Cambridge University Library also holds a large collection of books transferred from the Plant Sciences department in 2002 and 2012; this collection comprises about 1500 volumes, many of which are heavily annotated and formed part of the working library of the directors of Cambridge Botanic Garden from the 18th to the early 20th century. These collections are catalogued on ArchiveSearch and iDiscover. 

Highlighted collections 

The Darwin Archive 

The Darwin archive comprises the papers of Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882), together with those of many members of the wider Darwin family. Darwin’s scientific papers span his whole adult life,  consisting of experimental notebooks, working notes,  drafts and corrected proofs of his published works, and correspondence with significant botanists and horticulturalists of the day. The Darwin archive was mainly collected by his son, Francis Darwin, who worked as Darwin’s secretary towards the end of Darwin’s life and made an effort to collect as many of his letters and papers as possible. Much of the Darwin Archive can be viewed online through the Darwin Manuscripts Project, Darwin Correspondence Project, Epsilon, and Cambridge University Digital Library (Darwin Manuscripts).  

Cambridge Botanic Garden 

A formal physic garden was first established on a five-acre plot in 1762 in the then outskirts of Cambridge. Lecture rooms for Professors of Botany and Experimental Philosophy were erected in the garden in subsequent decades. Increasingly cramped for plant growing of all kinds, including an arboretum, for experimentation and buildings, the garden moved to a 38 acre more open site off Trumpington Road in 1831; its location to the present day.  

The archives comprise a range of operational records, covering the management and development of premises and grounds, garden planting, gardening advice within and without the University, visitors and Friends, accounts, bequests and staff, as well as papers concerning interaction with the Botany School and botanical research in general, 1856-2002. A full catalogue is online on ArchiveSearch (at https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/2/archival_objects/7916). The catalogue also details further records, including of the early history of the garden and its governance, elsewhere in the University Archives.   

Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) collections 

The RCS collection of printed material, archives and photographs documents many aspects of the lives of British people who lived and worked in the former colonies, including agricultural administrators, farmers, land agents, foresters and botanists. The RCS archive holdings are catalogued on ArchiveSearch: https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/.