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Catalogue
I. Biographical material
Item 1. 'An intellectual autobiography'; essay addressed to Kenneth Oakley, 1955. 63 pp. Contains some explanation of the growth of Pledge's ideas. Obituary notice of Pledge by A.C. Townsend, Library Association Record, 63 no.4 April 1961.
Item 2. Letter dated 02.09.39, inscribed 'Open only if I become a casualty.' 1939
Item 3. 'Autobiogr'. Bundle of notes, memos and record of work done. 1940-41. Draft of autobiographical note.
Item 4. MS inscribed 'For K.P. Oakley, should he to look over my notes.' Contains explanation of ideas, methods of work, numbers, colours etc. used in notes, signs and abbreviations. With specimen notes and Pledge's interpretation of alphabetical symbols.
Item 5 Notes dated at various times in 1960
II. Bibliographies
Item 6. Brown loose-leaf book, with numbered list of books read.
Item 7. Loose pages of notes with numbered list of books read. 1944
III. Articles, addresses, essays
Item 8. 'Soap Men. A Study in Edwardian Politics.' 2 corrected mss, with additional notes. Shorter drafts and notes, mainly on aspects of European history in 19th and 20th centuries. Letter and press cutting front John Plant Harthan 1959
Item 9. 'Biology and Topology.' 1935. Typescript and ms of essay. Letter of rejection from editor, Nature. Draft letter from Pledge (probably to sir Julian Huxley) on the mathematical foundations of biology. 1935
Item 10. 'Symbolism as a limiting factor in the history of science.' Published in Science Medicine and History, Essays ... written in honour of Charles Singer, C.U.P. ,1953, Vol II, 450-460. Printed text (2 copies). 2 drafts (1 defective), typescript with ms corrections. Letters from M.S. Bartlett (n.d.) and A. Prag (1939) with comments on paper. Copy of article by A. Prag, on James Gregory, with accompanying letter. 1938. Letter from E. Ashworth Underwood (editor) re Singer festschrift. 1946
Item 11. Essays. Typescript, some with ms additions and corrections. Beauty of Growth, Sense of Character, 'The Office-worker's Guide to Life. Idle Minutes of a Permanent Official.' 2 copies, 'Chapter XI. The Classical Electron Theory, and Appendix I &. II' (unidentified Ms. not part of Science since 1500)
Item 12. Essays. Typescript, some with ms. additions and corrections. The Quest, Non-functional Beauty, The Maxim (with additional ms. notes), Beauty in Machinery (with additional ms. notes)
Item 13 'Under Forties. A Proposal on the Population Crisis.' Book I. 6 chapters (complete). Book II. Several chapters unnumbered and incomplete.
IV. MSS drafts and synopses.
Item 14. 3 papers on algebra. On 'Inconsistents' (1 paper) and 'Cubic Equations' (2 papers). 1919-20
Item 15 'Analysis of proposed book. "Sources of Scientific and Technical Information" by H.T. Pledge, B.A., Sometime Senior Exhibitioner, Trinity College, Cambridge.'
Item 16. 'The Scientist's weekend book and Laboratory Companion.'. Synopsis and notes.
Item 17. 'History of Technics and Modern Problems. Provisional Synopsis.' With later notes and page of typescript comments.
Item 18. Ms. draft, on social effects of technological advance; see also Items 20 and 120.
Item 19. Notes, 'Research, Both subjects and admin.' Includes 'Synopsis of proposed pamphlet or short book.' 1948, 1954
Item 20. Draft for work on Social and political effects of technological advances; draft letter to Raymond Postgate accepting editorial criticism of the proposed work. See also Items 18 and 120 1932
V. Drafts and notes for Maxims
Item 21 'Notes and Maxims by H.T. Pledge.' 88p. Unpublished typescript with Ms corrections.
Item 22. Bundle of loose notes of maxims.
Item 23. Black loose-leaf notebook of maxims and quotations.
Item 24. Black notebook; inside, 'H.T. Pledge. His anthology.'
Item 25. Diary, 1955; inside 'Common Place Book HTP.' 1955
Item 26. Black notebook; inside, 'H.T. Pledge. His Marx.'
VI. Working papers and notes
Most of these are related to Pledge's projected work on a synthesis of knowledge. His aims and methods of work are briefly discussed in the description of the collection, and outlined in Items 1, 2, and 4. A fuller understanding of the complexity of the project, and his attempts to codify and organise it, can be gathered from Items 27-36, and 90-92, some of which are based on notes originally compiled 1934-38 for Science since 1500, subsequently augmented, modified and redistributed. Inverted commas indicate Pledge's own words.
Item 27. Draft account of projected work, with note dated 10.12.59
Item 28. Plans, charts and tables; classification of subject-matter. (last note dated 01.10.60)
Item 29. Small black loose-leaf notebook, with explanation of abbreviations and conventions, and plan of work. 1941
Item 30. Bundle of notes headed 'Lists of crucial qu's & stages reached chiefly '35' (with many annotations and additions.)
Item 31. 4 bundles of notes indicating methods of work and development of ideas.
Item 32. Envelope marked 'H.T.P.'s Notes . Samples of his thoughts in last year. He found that even punning had deep significance. K(enneth)P.O(akley). 17.XI.72.'
Item 33. Envelope bearing multiple dates 1942-57, indicating Pledge's continuous reorganising of his notes.
Item 34. Bundle of notes on Symbols and Systems.
Item 35. Bundle of notes and ideas on formal properties, aspect and identity, classification, measurement, sets, dimension, etc.
Item 36. Envelope marked 'Amusements 30.09.46.' Mathematical problems and puzzles on sets, patterns, mosaics, etc.
Items 37-39 Partly completed ms. drafts of chapters or sections, many with accompanying additional notes and bibliographies; no titles given; variously dated 1946 to 1959. 3 folders.
Items 40-100 Working papers and notes, identified by subject-matter. Pledge's ordering of bundles of notes has been retained.
Items 40-42. Geography, maps, traderoutes etc. notes maps, press cuttings. 3 folders.
Item 43. Geography and Ecology
Items 44-48. Mathematics, theory of number, information theory etc.
Item 44. Charts, diagrams, notes
Item 45. Working notes on information theory; letter from R.A. Fairthorne 1932
Item 46. Working notes on Ergodic theory; 2 letters from M.S. Bartlett 1946
Item 47. Draft chapters on methods of mathematical notation, models of classification, reference systems etc.
Item 48. Misc notes on history and methods of mathematics. 3 folders.
Items 49-52. Statistics, with special reference to demography and economics. Notes, press-cuttings, tables etc. 4 folders.
Item 53. Agriculture, trade and population. Notes, press-cuttings, etc.
Items54-55. History. Notes, bibliographies. 2 folders.
Item 56. History of Religion.
Item 57. Religion and Metaphysics.
Item 58. Religion, Magic and Medicine.
Item 59. Medicine and History of Medicine.
Items 60-61. Biochemistry and Cell Structure.
Item 62. Chemistry; includes short ms. 'My enzyme idea'.
Item 63. 'Inorg. Chem.'
Item 64. 'Zool.'
Item 65. 'Misc. Bot. Zool.' on outside of bundle. Notes inside deal with geology, agricultural economics, and the theory of 3 dimensional space.
Item 66. Botany.
Item 67. Biology.
Item 68. Physics.
Item 69. Meteorology.
Item 70. Military History; mainly of 1914-18 World War.
Item 71. Human and Animal Societies.
Item 72. Animal Social Structures.
Items 73-74. History of Economics, Trade, Banking etc.
Item 75. Notes on the theory of Progress.
Item 76. History of Industrial Organisation.
Item 77-79. History of Technology. 3 folders.
Item 80. Etymology and word derivations; mainly English and French.
Item 81. Law of Contract, Fraud and Misrepresentation.
Item 82. Taste, Fashion, Amusements, Aesthetics. includes short ms, 'Another kind of Realism.'
Item 83. Misc notes on biographies of historical figures, family standing of scientists, esp. on Descartes. Charts on mutual influences and interrelationships.
Item 84. Misc biographical notes on Hilaire Belloc.
Item 85. Bundles of notes marked 'USED'.
Item 86. 2 bundles of bibliographical and reference notes.
Item 87. Unattributed notes.
Item 88. Caste and Social Structure. Extended ms. draft.
Item 89. 'Philosophical i.e. QU's unanswered'; misc. notes.
Item 90. 'Structures of thought. Theory of Modes. Puzzles, i.e. Trials. Formulation of Problems Misc. notes.
Item 91-92. Longer ms drafts for sections of projected work, many with headings, annotations and additional notes. Topics include:
Item 91 Tabu, After-life, Castes and Parasitism, Domestication, Arthropods, Omens, Augury, Dreams and trances, Priests and Prophets, Plant luck, Taste, Burgundy and Rhineland
Item 92. Mess, mass, matrix, Beacons,War and Armies, Travel and landmarks, Patterns of numbers, Numbers, Maps, History and Science, Games; 2 sections, Nature, Symbols
Items 93-94. Notes and charts on Chronology and Synchrony. 2 folders.
Item 95. Misc. papers re Science since 1500; page of corrected draft; notes on 1947 reprint etc.
Item 96. Misc. press-cuttings, articles from journals etc., some annotated by Pledge. Note on 'Stellar Constitution and Evolution' in another hand.
Item 97. Photocopies of letters, articles etc. re Benjamin Jesty, 1949-54. precursor of Jenner's work on vaccination.
Item 98. Misc cuttings, articles, notes on Time
Item 99. Misc cuttings, articles, notes on St. Michael's Mounts
Item 100. Misc cuttings, articles, notes on Fractions and Musical Intervals, with letter from C.T.L. Griffith. 1941
Items 101-105. Shorter notes, subject-matter only partly identifiable. Pledge's ordering of the notes has been retained. 5 boxes.
Item 106. Envelopes of notes dated by Pledge 1941. 1 box. 12 envelopes
Item 107. Envelopes of notes dated by Pledge 1940-44. 1 box. 12 envelopes.
Item 108. Envelopes of notes marked 'INF', dated 1941-42. 1 box 11 envelopes.
Item 109. Envelopes of notes marked 'INF', dated 1942-60. 13 envelopes. 1 envelope marked 'ABEYANCE', dated 1945. 1 box.
Items 110-115. Envelopes of notes marked 'DUP.' , and dated by Pledge. 6 boxes.
Item 110. 12 envelopes 1941-51
Item 111. 20 envelopes 1942-44
Item 112. 35 envelopes 1942-45
Item 113. 30 envelopes 1946-50
Item 114. 20 envelopes 1951-54
Item 115. 11 envelopes 1956-60. 1 envelope n.d.
Items 116-119. Unsorted fragmentary notes. These had been dispersed after Pledge's death and cannot be regrouped or identified with certainty. 4 boxes.
VII. Correspondence
In chronological order
from Professor W.H. McCrea; comments on mathematical physics sections of Science since 1500 with Pledge's annotations 1938
with Raymond Postgate (3 letters) re proposed article by Pledge on social and political effects of technological change, for Postgate's publication Fact; with later notes by Pledge. see also 18 and 20. 1933
with A. Wheen re, reference for colleague (c.)1939
with Ceci re foreign sales of Science since 1500 1940
from P.C.P. Huysers. Congratulations on Science since 1500 1940
from C.M. Parkinson 1940
from W.A. Osborne 1941
from E.J. Moulton. On Science since 1500 1942
from George Sarton 1943
from G.N. Clark 1943
from Derek Justin Schove. On Schove's collection of materials for history of science, especially maps, chronologies, statistics, charts. 1944
from Hal Gray 1944
from Warren R. Dawson. On paranomasia in Egyptian texts 1946
from I. Bernard Cohen. Congratulations on Science since 1500 1946
from Walter Pagel (2 letters) on Science since 1500 1946
from Harvey W. Haines (2 letters) on Science since 1500 1947
from R.A. Fairthorne. On mathematical typescript. 1947
from W.F. Floyd. On Electricity in Medicine 1949
from R.J. Spilsbury. On Genetics and Evolution 1955
from T.J. Fletcher. On mathematical games 1956
from W.M. Dun1op 1957
from Frank P. Chambers. Comments on ms. submitted by Pledge. 1957
from George E. Hyde. On burnet moths. 1957
from R. Lawton. On Leeds and Bradford textile industry 1958
from Jerome Ravetz 1959
from J.H.P. Pafford 1960
from John Plant Harthan 1960
from unidentified 1960
from George A. Arthurson. On building and invention during the Industrial Revolution. n.d.
from Joseph Needham; review of 'Religious Motives in the Medical Biology of the 17th. Century' (c.)1935. n.d.
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