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Hugh Stanford London collection

Reference code
LON
Title
Hugh Stanford London collection
Date
c.1910-1959
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and format
24 series
Scope and content
The collection consists of material which came to Society of Antiquaries as part of the extensive bequest of papers and books from Hugh Stanford London, FSA. The bequest included books and papers in a variety of printed, typescript and manuscript formats, all relating to various aspects of English and European heraldry.
An outline of the contents of London’s bequest is in Antiquaries Journal 40 (1960), 281. Some further detail is in LON/08.

For details of London's career and publications see the biographical notice and bibliography by Sir Anthony Wagner in the posthumous edition (1970) of London's The Life of William Bruges (Harl. Soc., 111/12, for 1959-60).
Creator
London, Hugh Stanford (1884-1959), diplomat, herald and antiquary
Previous reference number(s)
SAL/MS/925-936
SAL MSS 807-814
SAL MS 774
SAL MS 898
Archival history
This fonds is comprised of material which came to SAL as part of the extensive bequest of papers and books from Hugh Stanford London, following his death in 1959. Most of it consisted of notes and volumes (often with copious annotations) from his personal papers and library; some seems to have been created or collected in the course of his contributions to the work of the ‘new Papworth’ project, intended to produce a new version of the Ordinary of British Armorials, based at the Society of Antiquaries of London.

The material now LON/01-LON/12 (formerly SAL MSS 925-936) was later arranged by John A Goodall, FSA; the date of his work is unrecorded, but is likely to have been in the 1990s, when he served as secretary to the Croft Lyons Committee of the Society of Antiquaries, which was then overseeing the long-running ‘new Papworth’ project. Goodall’s descriptions formed the basis of entries in Pamela Willetts, Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Society of Antiquaries of London (2000).

At least some of the bequest was shelved for some time in a room used by the ‘New Papworth’ project for its extensive holdings, in the Society’s apartments at Burlington House. It appears probable some items, especially typescript transcripts of rolls of arms, were absorbed into the main body of ‘New Papworth’ records.

A number of other items definitely from London’s bequest were allocated individual SAL manuscript numbers, possibly at an earlier date than the sorting and cataloguing of the material now in LON/01-LON/12: LON/13 (formerly MS 851), LON/14 (formerly MS 807), LON/15 (formerly MS 808), LON/16 (formerly MS 809), LON/17 (formerly MS 811), LON/19 (formerly MS 813), LON/20 (formerly MS 812), LON/21 (formerly MS 810) and LON/22 (formerly MS 814).

A further two items believed to have been part of the bequest are LON/18 (formerly MS 774) and LON/23 (formerly MS 898).

A number of items from London’s collection, mostly printed books and offprints, were added to the Society’s Library, rather than the manuscript holdings.
Related units of description
The records of the ‘New Papworth’ project, later under the auspices of the Croft Lyons Committee are at SAL/17.
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