Letters to the National Gallery, 1878-1914

These files relate to all aspects of the National Gallery's activities and the management of its Collection. The series includes correspondence, reports and memoranda addressed to the Director, Keeper, Trustees and other staff of the Gallery. Some of these papers were discussed at meetings of the Board of Trustees, whereas others appear to be of a more mundane or operational nature.

These records were generated in the course of the National Gallery's daily activities. Correspondence, reports and memoranda relating to strategic as well as mundane issues were filed into this one large series.

These records were transferred to the Archive from the Library, where they had been held for many years. They were originally contained in envelopes which were inscribed with content lists and these have been retained in the series. The papers are stamped 'National Gallery Trustees Meeting' together with the date of the meeting. Some papers have not been stamped and have been added to the series over time. These were probably documents which were removed from the archive to be placed in the art historical dossiers. When they were returned to the archive, they were incorrectly added to the NG7 series. No attempt has been made to rectify this error as it is now impossible to identify the original series from which the documents were taken.

NG1 Minutes of the Board of Trustees NG5 Letters to the National Gallery, 1821-1877 NG8 Treasury letters, 1878-1900 NG68 Letters to the National Gallery 1878-1914