The John Murray Archive is one of the world's most significant literary and cultural archives. With more than 150,000 items, it contains letters, manuscripts and journals from some of the greatest writers, politicians and scientists from 1768 to 1920. Edinburgh-born publisher John Murray started the collection when he set up his business in London in the late 18th century. The archive contains original MSS of works by Murray authors and extensive files of correspondence, letters and journals. Authors include Lord Byron, David Livingstone, Charles Darwin, Jane Austen, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, Benjamin Disraeli, William Ewart Gladstone, Herman Melville, Washington Irving and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with artists such as J M W Turner providing illustrations for Murray books.
