Bertrand Russell Archives

Bertrand Russell Archives Overview

The archive and personal library of famed British philosopher, social and peace activist, and Nobel Laureate, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) have been at McMaster University Library since 1968 and remain one of our most heavily used research collections. The collection also includes a supporting library of Russell-related scholarship. Scholars from all over the world visit McMaster to pore over Russell’s manuscripts and correspondence with individuals as diverse as Nikita Khrushchev, John Lennon, Alfred North Whitehead and Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Russell's Archives

Starting points for accessing Bertrand Russell's archives.

Description of the Archives

A comprehensive description of the Russell Archives. This provides a complete overview of all the material in the archive. This is a good place to start if you want to get an idea of the archive as a whole.

Correspondence (BRACERS)

BRACERS is a database of all known Russell correspondence.

Manuscripts

A list of manuscripts authored by Russell located in the Russell archives.

Digitized Material

A small but growing collection of digitized content from the Russell Archives.

History of the Archive

How the Russell Archives Came to McMaster

How the Russell Papers Came to McMaster, by Dr. Nicholas Griffin (Bertrand Russell Society Quarterly, August 2004).

The Original Purchase of the Russell Archives (McMaster Courier, 1994).

Russell's Library

Along with Russell's papers, he also agreed to donate his personal library. In 1978, after the death of Edith, Countess Russell, approximately 3500 books were transported to Hamilton and reshelved in the order that Russell had them.

The collection spans many topics: religion, history, psychology, fiction, biography, and of course logic, philosophy, and mathematics. The collection is not complete, missing his beloved detective novels, and other tomes that drifted out of the collection through sale, divorce, moving, and the other challenges of life.

Many of the books contain marks of his ownership from marginalia, to pipe cleaners bookmarks, gift tags, and unfinished letters used as bookmarks.