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The UCL SSEES Library holds over 200 archive collections. Most of them are fairly small collections, many contain material in a Slavonic language and quite a few contain or consist solely of photographs. All of the collections come from individuals or organisations with a connection to the areas studied by the School.
The Library holdings include archive collections of significant importance for the study of South East Europe
Photograph from the Hasluck Collection
Some notable collections:
Evans (Arthur) Collection (1838-1936)
Margaret Masson Hasluck Collection
Seton-Watson (George Hugh Nicholas) Collection
Some of our archival collections has been digitised and are available online as SSEES Library Special Collections.
Access to the majority of archive collections is unrestricted and they can be consulted in the Library without special permission, although we prefer users to make an appointment in advance. A number of collections are accessible only after a formal application and the acceptance of special conditions.
To arrange an archives appointment, contact ssees-library@ucl.ac.uk. Please provide brief details of your research and specify exactly which archive materials you wish to consult.
Search the catalogues for collections held across:
UCL Special Collections is one of the foremost university collections of manuscripts, archives and rare books in the UK. Our holdings span the 4th century to the present day and cover a vaste range of subject areas and disciplines. The strengths of the collections include language, literature and poetry from the 15th to the 21st centuries, 20th and 21st century small-press publishing, politics and social policy, History of Science, Mathematics, Latin American history and economics, Hebraica and Judaica, Education, the history of London and the history of UCL.
Anyone with a need to consult our collections is welcome to do so. UCL Special Collections is reference only. It is essential to book in advance to make sure of a reading room place and that the items requested are available. Please contact us at least two weeks before you intend to visit. Unfortunately, we are not able to accommodate drop-in visits.
A selection of printed accounts dating from 1557 to 1860, focusing on travels in Central Europe, South Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia.
The collection features works in English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latin, Polish and Russian. Many books are embellished with plates, illustrations, engravings and maps.
Previously unpublished travel memories, bequeathed to SSEES by the famous British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans.
The digitisation of this collection was made possible by the EU’s EuropeanaTravel project.
A collection of historic maps of Central, South Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia, dating from the 19th century back to 1490.
The digitisation of this collection was made possible by the EU’s EuropeanaTravel project.
Over 500 photographs taken during the 1920s and 1930s in the course of Margaret Hasluck's ethnographic research in the Balkans. Chiefly from present day Albania and Greece, they also include photographs from present day Turkey, Macedonia, Kosovo and Croatia. They show views of landscapes, towns and villages as well as portraits of local people and activities.
The Countess Brasova collection comprises of a number of photograph albums that depict Natalia Sergeevna Cheremtevskaia and Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich during the early years of their life together 1909-1913.
Lieutenant-General Sir James Wolfe Murray's album of describes his participation in the visit of the British delegation to Russia, 22 January - 6 February 1912. It includes invitation cards, menus, programmes and an account of the visit by Murray published in the "Morning Post", 8 February 1912. He served as chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1914-1915
The geographer Frank Carter captured photographs of the 1968 Czechoslovakia during his research trip to Prague and Pilsen. At that time, on the night of 20-21 August, thousands of Warsaw Pact troops and tanks invaded the country to halt pro-liberalisation reforms.
The memoir of exiled Prince Paul Ivan Lieven describes his life, and that of his family, in the years 1875-1925. Prince Paul Ivan Lieven was born into one of Russia's leading aristocratic families. He worked briefly as an engineer before going to live on his estates in Livland Province. He was a senior Red Cross official during the Russo-Japanese War. In exile after 1917, he lived in Germany, Belgium, and Ireland. He was married to Nathalie, Baroness von Taube (1876-1964).
A selection of papers from the Major General Sir John Hanbury-Williams collection, from the time when he was the Head of British Military Mission to the Russian Army in the Field during the World War I. After retiring, he researched his family history and the fine arts, and became active in campaigning against Bolshevism.
The British Miners' Delegation album depicts a miners' delegation visiting the USSR, hosted by Soviet miners, between August and October 1926. The delegation was led by A. J. Cook, the secretary of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain.
