The core collections and rare books libraries are held at the Archives Centre in London with the majority of material held off-site in a special temperature and humidity controlled repository.
We are not static and continuously acquire material to supplement our collections. However, each new collection is considered on a case by case basis and must fall within our collecting policy. To find out more please contact us and take a look at our depositor agreement form for our terms and conditions.
We offer a simple enquiry service and aim to respond to enquiries within five working days. If you are unable to find what you are looking for by searching this website or our online catalogue please contact us. For more advanced searches we ask that you make an appointment to view the material if applicable.
Please see our visit us page to make an appointment and using the archives to prepare for your visit.
An overview of the collections
The Archives of the IET
These are the official records and working papers concerning the activities of the IET since its foundation as the Society of Telegraph Engineers in 1871. We preserve the records of the IET's 150-year history, including material from the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), Institution of of Electronic and Radio Engineers (IERE), Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE) and also the Institution of Manufacturing Engineers (IMfgE) who were formerly the Institution of Production Engineers (IProdE). The IET Archives are made up of the archives of the IET itself, dating from 1871, and collections on the history of technology that have been deposited with us.
Please see our IET history page for more information about the history of the IET and the other Institutions.
The special collection manuscripts
We have acquired the papers and manuscripts of many distinguished people concerned with science and technology. These include the papers of Sir Francis Ronalds, and Oliver Heaviside, plus many others. Other manuscripts and documents relate to the development of the telegraph (particularly the Atlantic submarine cable) and the development of electrical equipment in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Perhaps one of the most important collections held is the Faraday Collection. These manuscripts were presented to the IET in 1915 by David James Blaikley on the condition that they were preserved and made available to researchers. The collection consists of notebooks, correspondence and manuscripts covering his travels in Europe with Sir Humphry Davy, his chemical notes and some 600 letters from many famous names in science and current affairs.
The National Archive for Electrical Science and Technology (NAEST)
This collection consists of corporate records, constituting a considerable business archive in engineering policy and innovation. The records cover the early nineteenth century to the present day and range from company records, records of societies, working papers of engineers and scientists, plans, drawings, photographs and trade literature. Three major collections are the archives of the Women’s Engineering Society, the Electrical Association for Women and the personal papers of Dame Caroline Haslett.
Descriptions of our collections are available to search via The IET Archives online catalogue.
Rare book collections
We are fortunate to have acquired two fine rare books collections. The library of Sir Francis Ronalds, which comprises about 2000 volumes and 4000 pamphlets on electricity and magnetism, was bequeathed to his brother-in-law but in accordance with Ronalds’ wish that the library should remain together, it was transferred to the IET in 1876. It includes many books collected during his travels abroad.
Silvanus Philips Thompson’s library of 900 rare books, 3700 scientific and technical books and 8000 pamphlets was purchased in 1917 by the IET with a grant from the Council and subscriptions from members and his old students at Finsbury Technical College. The library includes rare books from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries and thirteen manuscripts including Peter Peregrinus’ Epistola De Magnete and Chaucer’s Astrolabe, dated 1391.
The two collections together form one of the finest small collections of books and manuscripts relating to magnetism and the development of electrical science and technology.
The Woman Engineer Journal
The Woman Engineer is the journal of the Women's Engineering Society. The journal has been produced quarterly since 1919 and a complete set can be accessed at the IET Archives. The journal is an important tool for research as it contains a wealth of information regarding not only women in engineering but also a wide variety of information for social history, gender studies and innovation in the UK since World War I.
We are currently working with London’s Screen Archives (LSA) to host our digitised film collection. This is an exciting opportunity to work with LSA - a unique network of over 70 organisations to preserve and share our history on film. The network is managed by Film London and encompasses organisations that hold heritage film collections across London.
Visit the IET Archives film collection on the LSA website.
As we work with them more moving image will be added to the catalogue for you to view.