Raphael Meldola: the Essex Field Club papers at Imperial College
HILARY McEWAN
Special Collections Archivist, Imperial College London
"Reviewing Meldola's life and work is rather like rotating a kaleidoscope containing as bright
objects some three or four branches of science and other accomplishments "
General Introduction
The Meldola Medal2, Meldola's Blue3, these are the accolades which have preserved the memory
of Raphael Meldola (1849 - 1915) as a first rate chemist. It is only natural that he should be
remembered as such, since the chemistry of dye manufacturing was the field in which he was
employed, and made many valuable discoveries which were the subject of numerous published
articles. Yet read any profile of his life and it is impossible not to see that here was a man equally
engaged and knowledgeable in the field of natural history. Nature esteemed him to be "one of the
most notable men of science of our time" yet to members of the Essex Field Club he is perhaps best
known as a founder member and first President of the Club.
Collection and Custodial History
The papers that Meldola left to the care of the Field Club were originally held at the Passmore
Edwards Museum (now The Newham Museum Service), but when the Museum decided to
concentrate its focus on material specifically relating to the Newbarn Borough it was felt that the
papers would be better held elsewhere. Meldola had many strong connections with the constituent
colleges of Imperial College London which already holds a number of his notebooks and
correspondences. Now the two collections sit together at Imperial, alongside those of some of his
fellow students and work colleagues, such as S.R Thompson4 and H.E. Armstrong5.
Spanning the years 1862 - 1915, the Meldola collections number approximately 2500 items. Mainly
correspondence written to Meldola, many are from other notables of his day including politicians
and scientists. They have been recently catalogued and arc now available for public consultation.
The Field Club material is arranged in 6 series as follows. General Correspondence 1862 - 1915;
Correspondence: Scientific Autograph Collection 1 1864 - 1907; Epping Forest Thinning
Correspondence 1894- 1895; Sylvester Memorial Correspondence 1897- 1900; Spencer Memorial
Coitcspondaicc 1904 - 1908; Press Cutting and Autographs. The material already at the College
concern Sir John Evans Portrait Fund 1898 - 1900; Maccabaeans Dinner 1905; Perkin Jubilee
1906; Notebooks 1866 - 1906 and were transferred to the archives from the Royal Institute of
Chemistry.
Within the space of this article the broad range of people with whom Meldola corresponded shall
become clear. However, the main focus will be on those letters that show him at work as a committed
and enthusiastic natural historian. But first a very brief summary of his life and works is appropriate.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 21 (2004)
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