In the course of its two hundred year history, the Fitzwilliam Museum has accumulated by bequest, gift and purchase a remarkable collection of archives detailing the lives and letters of pre-eminent figures in cultural and scientific history from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, including Sir Isaac Newton and Sir Joseph Banks, John Linnell and Samuel Palmer, Sir Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris.

Early experiments in scientific photography by Celia Glaisher, and a wealth of letters, diaries and accounts by nineteenth century writers and artists are only some of the archival treasures we hold.