Comprises:

Folder MSQ-1: letters received by Mary and William Somerville from [Adolphe] Quetelet, [astronomer and mathematician], 1827-1850 and n.d., described by Mary as being 'on a variety of scientific subjects' and including a letter of thanks for the gift of a copy of Physical Geography, 18 Jan 1850

Folder MSR-1: Correspondents: [Bettino] Ricasoli, T.N. Richards, Samuel Rogers, 1860-1873 and n.d., with two autographs of T.S. Raffles cut from letters

Folder MSR-2: Correspondents: [Earl of] Rosse, Rammohun Roy, [Earl] Russell, 1832-1869 and n.d.

Folder MSS-1: letters received by Mary from Edward Sabine, [geophysicist], 1832-1869, regarding Mary's publications, his own research on subjects including terrestrial magnetism, and his election as President of the Royal Society in 1861, with a Magnetic Chart of Scotland, 1836, from the Sixth Report of the Brit[ish] Assoc[iation for the Advancement of Science], presented to Mary by Sabine

Folder MSS-2: letters received by Mary and William Somerville, 1830-1851 and n.d., including a letter from Hermann Schlagintweit, [explorer], regarding physical and geological research in the Alps by himself and his brother, Adolph, published in Untersuchungen über die physikalische Geographie der Alpen (1850), 7 Jan 1851. Other correspondent: A.W. de Schlegel

Folder MSS-3: note from Sir Walter Scott to Mary declining an invitation to a party, 9 Mar no year; list of 'Examples of Melody' in Mary's hand, n.d.; cover for correspondence regarding the composition of the ballad 'Flowers of the Forest' between Sir Walter Scott, Thomas Somerville and Jane Elliot, Jan-Feb 1801 (see Dep. c. 369 Folder CELE-3)

Folder MSS-4: letters received by Mary and William Somerville and J.B. Pentland, 1832-1869 and n.d., from correspondents including [Sir] Martin Archer Shee, [portrait painter], thanking Mary for the gift of one of her publications, 25 February 1839. Other correspondents: A. Secchi, described by Mary as 'Professor of Astronomy at the Jesuits College, Rome], Adam Sedgwick, [geologist]

Folder MSS-5: letters received by Mary, William and Martha Somerville, 1823-1872 and n.d., from correspondents including:

Folder MSS-6: letters received by Mary from W.H. Smyth, [hydrographer and astronomer], and his wife, A[nnarella], 1834-1870 and n.d., mainly regarding Smyth's observations of Halley's Comet and other astronomical subjects

Folder MSS-7: letters received by Mary, William and Martha Somerville, 1838-1873 and n.d., from William Smyth, [historian] and Thomas Sopwith, [mining engineer], including letters from Sopwith to Mary referring to the magnification of objects, research on sea margins, the treatment of gun cotton, the engineering work of Sir William Armstrong, news of Sopwith's family and their travels, and other matters, 1838-1872

Folder MSS-8: letters received by Mary, William and Martha Somerville, 1822-1859 and n.d., from correspondents including:

Folder MSS-9: letters received by Mary, 1835-1872, from correspondents including:

Folder MST-1: letters received by Mary from Joseph Tuckerman, [Unitarian minister], 1833-1837, including a letter, 28 Aug 1834, enclosing a letter by George Washington as a gift (see folder MSW-6); letters received by Mary and Martha Somerville from John Tyndall, physicist, 1863-1873 and n.d.

Folder MSV-1: letters received by Mary and William Somerville, 1815-1866, including letters from James Veitch of Inchbonny by Jedburgh, described by Mary as 'a wheel wright, a hard working man of extraordinary power of mind and a good self taught astronomer', to William Somerville regarding a telescope which he has made for him, 15 Dec 1815, and to Mary, referring to his discovery of a comet in 1811, 12 Oct 1836. Other correspondent: C Vogt

Folder MSW-1: letters received by Mary and William Somerville, 1816-1836 and n.d., from correspondents including William Wallace, Mary's mathematics tutor, regarding and enclosing mathematical problems, 1816 and n.d., and in praise of The Mechanism of the Heavens, 23 Dec 1831. Other correspondents: Henry Warburton, Frederick Watson

Folder MSW-2: letters received by Mary and William Somerville from William Whewell, [polymath], Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, 1831-1845 and n.d., including a letter of thanks for the gift of a copy of The Mechanism of the Heavens, containing verses 'To Mrs Somerville on her "Mechanism of the Heavens"' by Whewell, 2 Dec 1831

Folder MSW-3: letters received by Mary and William Somerville and others, 1802-1852 and n.d., from correspondents including:

Folder MSW-4: letters received by Mary and an unnamed correspondent from William Hyde Wollaston, [chemist], and related papers, 1826-1828, including a letter containing his comments on the manuscript of Mary's work on light, 4 Jan 1826, and a note of a bequest to Mary by Wollaston of a 'cabinet of models of crystals', 7 Dec 1828

Folder MSW-5: letter from William Wyon, [Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint], to William Somerville regarding the production of a medal of Mary, 8 Dec 1836

Folder MSW-6: letter from G[eorge] Washington, [first President of the United States] to Gouv[erneur] Morris, [statesman], acknowledging letters from Morris, describing the press of business, and enclosing letters to be delivered by Morris to Madam[e] de la Fayette, 13 Jun 1793. Letter received by Mary as a gift from Joseph Tuckerman in 1834 (see Folder MST-1)

Folder MSY-1: letters from Thomas Young [polymath], to Mary and William Somerville, 1828 and n.d., mainly concerning social matters. On the reverse of one letter are notes in Mary's hand about Young's work on light and his deciphering of the Rosetta Stone. (This folder also contains a dinner invitation from [Sir] C[harles] Lemon, [MP], to Mary and William Somerville, 1 Jun no year)