| Description | The Miscellaneous Reports Collection contains 772 files relating to global economic botany and the work of Botanic Gardens, and Agricultural and Forestry Stations across the world, with particular emphasis on former colonial territories. The collection dates primarily from 1850-1930, and documents Kew's interactions with these institutions, and also with government administrations, botanists and scientific interests, commercial bodies, and amateur botanists, gardeners and inventors. The collection also includes later printed reports that have been added to the collection, dating to 1979.
In addition to information regarding the cultivation of usable plant products, the Miscellaneous Reports also cover botanical exploration, the use of plants by Indigenous communities, the movement of seeds, plants and personnel across colonial and global networks, as well as subjects such as botanical, agricultural and horticultural education, and the publication of Floras and other guides.
439 files are classed as 'printed' and consist of published reports and documents, such as annual reports from Botanic Gardens. The remaining 333 files are considered 'manuscript' volumes, and include manuscript and typescript letters and reports, newspaper cuttings, photographs, illustrations, and plant and product samples, in addition to printed reports and documents. In both cases, the printed material is frequently annotated. Both types of file are mixed together within the catalogue. For printed files, each publication is listed within the 'Description' field.
The Miscellaneous Reports Collection is a useful resource in particular for research in the following areas:
- History and culture of Indigenous communities
- Economic botany
- British and World history: social, political and economic
- History of science
- Geography
The collection also contains contextual information relating to Kew's Economic Botany and Herbarium collections.
The catalogue for the Miscellaneous Reports Collection includes colonial and other historical place names, and language which may be considered offensive. Where volumes contain index pages (primarily the ‘manuscript’ volumes) these have been replicated in the catalogue entry. These indexes reflect the arrangement of the volumes at the time of binding and what is, and is not, included in these indexes, reflect the context in which the material was created and organised.
The cataloguing process is ongoing, and if you have any comments or feedback about the catalogue, please contact archives@kew.org with the subject line ‘Miscellaneous Reports catalogue’.
There is a varying level of detail across the catalogue, and enhancement of the catalogue is ongoing. |
| Physical Description | The collection contains manuscript and typescript papers, published documents, press cuttings, photographs, illustrations, and plant and product samples.
Conservation work is currently being undertaken and therefore volumes may be temporarily unavailable for consultation. Please contact archives@kew.org for further information. |