The Library and Archive will be closed from Friday 20th December 2024 to Monday 6th January 2025 inclusive, and will reopen on Tuesday 7th January at 9.30am.
Access our new look
online library catalogue here
The Library and Archives are based at our Mansion House site in St Albans. We are open by appointment Tuesday-Thursday 9.30am-4.30pm.
Members and Fellows of the Society may visit the Library by appointment only where they can consult the Main Collection, the Rare Books Collection, material in our Archive, and items held in storage, and may borrow items in Main Collection. Please contact the Librarian Rose Pearson on library@royensoc.co.uk or 01727899387 to arrange an appointment.
The Library is currently closed to the public. The Librarian can respond to enquiries by phone on 01727899387 or email at library@royensoc.co.uk
The Library has existed since the founding of the Society in 1833. You can read about the history of the Library here.
Plate from Donovan, E. 1800 Epitome of the Natural History of the Insects of India
Plate from Merian, M.S. 1730 Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium
Folding plate from Barbut, J. 1781
The Genera Insectorum of Linnaeus
Library on tour at Ento 22 in Lincoln
President Jane Hill (centre) and Past President Helen Roy (left) admiring a work by Maria Sibylla Merian, as shown by RES librarian Rose Pearson (right)Some of our historic collection
Library and Archive Benefits for Members
As a member of the Society, you can:
- Visit the library and archive Tues-Thurs 9.30am-4.30pm. Email library@royensoc.co.uk to make an appointment
- Borrow up to 20 items at a time from our Main Library Collection of over 11,000 books covering all areas of Entomology and related subjects
- View our collection of 1,500 rare books, dating back to 1609, including a number of early illustrated volumes
- Access our collection of 800 print journal titles and more than 50,000 reprints
- View our archive, covering the history of Entomology, the history of the RES, and the lives of entomologists, including our portrait collection
- Explore our collection of entomological illustration
- Get full, free online access to the seven RES journals
- Get online access to Antenna issues from 2010-present.
- Login to your Membership Account here
- Read online here
- Order items held at other libraries via our Inter-Library Loan scheme
- Suggest items for purchase via the Suggestions Form at the bottom of this page
- Consult the Librarian for assistance with research queries
- Request scans and copies of journal articles and other material at discounted rates
Need help tracking down that hard-to-find article? RES Library can help.
We hold a unique collection of specialised material on aspects of Entomology and related subjects, much of which is not held elsewhere, and not accessible online. RES members have access to our collection of over 800 international journal titles and 50,000+ reprints, and if we don’t hold it in our collections, we can order (almost) anything you might need through our connections to other libraries and our inter-library loan scheme. Your membership comes with 10 free scans annually.
Contact library@royensoc.co.uk for more information.
Library holdings
The Library collections date back to the founding of the Society in 1833. We collect major works of reference covering all aspects of insect biology, without any geographical bias. The library holds material on all Orders of insects as well as a small section on spiders. The collection is particularly strong in the general biology and taxonomy of insects, especially for the Western Palaearctic Region. We also hold material on Natural History more generally.
If we do not hold the material you require, please contact the librarian, we may be able to obtain it for you.
If you would like to suggest material for purchase by the library, please complete the Suggestions form at the bottom of this page or email library@royensoc.co.uk
Our Library Acquisitions Policy can be read here.
Books
The library holds around 12,000 books, covering all orders of insects, and a small section on spiders. We have sections covering Applied Entomology, Botany, Palaeography, Zoology, and Natural History, as well as biographies of notable entomologists, and literature featuring insects and entomologists.
The collection includes titles dating from 1609 to the present day, including a rare book collection of about 1,500 pre-1850 entomological works.
De Tigny 1831 Histoire Naturelle des Insectes
Members of Harpenden Botanical Painting Group viewing a selection of our 18th century illustrated Entomology books
Journals
We hold around 800 print journal titles, of which around 40 are taken currently. As well as titles covering the breadth of Entomology, the collection also includes key titles in Zoology, Ecology and Natural History. The journal collection dates back to the Society’s founding and includes many 19th Century volumes, and many which are difficult to find elsewhere. Scans and paper copies of journal articles are available for a small charge.
RES Journals
RES currently publishes seven journals, plus Antenna, the Bulletin of the RES. A timeline explaining the title changes over time can be downloaded here.
RES Members and Fellows get free online access to the seven journals we publish via the RES Journals Hub at Wiley Online Library. Login at My Account and then access them here. This includes access to all titles and back issues from 1833.
- The Transactions of the RES 1836-1975 is found under Ecological Entomology
- The Proceedings of the RES is found under Ecological Entomology for 1833-1925 and Physiological Entomology for 1926-1975
History timeline of the RES journals
Antenna
Antenna is the Bulletin of the Royal Entomological Society. Antenna issues from 2010 can be read online here. Issues more than five years old are free to access. Newer issues are only available to Members and Fellows. Logging in at My Account will allow you to access all issues. Issues from 1977-2009 are not currently available online. Print copies are available in the library, and scans and copies of articles can be requested from the Librarian. See ‘Scanning and Copying’ below for details of charges and how to request articles.
All articles, correspondence, obituaries and meeting reports published in Antenna from 1977-1983 and from 2002 onwards are indexed and can be searched within the Library Catalogue. Issues from 1984-2002 are currently being added to the catalogue. Enter your login details and select the ‘Advanced’ option and select ‘Antenna’ from the ‘Media type’ box to search the indexed articles.
Reprints
The library holds a unique collection of around 50,000 reprints, both print and electronic, dating from the 18th Century to the present day, many of which are available to borrow. As well as the main collections of reprints covering all orders of insects, which are partially catalogued, we also hold a number of specialist collections. As not all material has been catalogued, contact the librarian if you cannot find what you are looking for.
- Michael Ashburner’s Diptera Reprints: Around 190 papers covering 1910s-1990s. Fully catalogued.
- William Block’s Reprints on Antarctic Invertebrates: Around 1,400 papers on Antarctic Invertebrates. Contains some non-insect reprints. The papers are not listed in the online catalogue, but an annotated bibliography is available for consultation in the library. Additionally, 17 files of papers on Cryobiology, and 7 on Springtails (Collembola), the contents of which are not listed in the Bibliography.
- Dr Cherrett’s Leaf Cutter Ants Collection: Around 400 papers covering 1830s-1990s. Fully catalogued.
- Philip Corbet’s Odonata Reprints: 113 boxes of papers on Odonata arranged alphabetically by author, uncatalogued.
- Martin Luff’s Carabidae Collection: Around 400 papers on Carabidae (Ground Beetles). Catalogued.
- Miriam Rothschild’s Flea Reprints: 39 boxes of reprints on Fleas and Ticks. Uncatalogued.
- John Sudd’s Ant Reprints: 21 boxes of reprints on Ants. Uncatalogued.
- Boris Uvarov’s Orthoptera Reprints: 11 uncatalogued boxes of reprints, mainly in Russian, dating from 1909 to 1969.
- Silkworm Collection: 5 boxes of reprints, and miscellaneous reference material on Silkworms, from 1860s to the mid 20th Century. Includes some illustrations. Uncatalogued.
- Spider Collection: Around 150 papers on Spiders dating from the 1820s to the 1970s. Partially catalogued.
Archive
A selection of archival material relating to the history of the Society and to the history of Entomology is available for consultation in the Library.
The collections include:
- Minute Books of Royal Entomological Society meetings going back to 1833
- Royal Entomological Society Office Files
- Royal Entomological Society Membership Files
- Other Royal Entomological Society Business
- Manuscripts and other papers of Jacob Hübner (1721-1826)
- Correspondence of Alexander Henry Haliday (1807-1870)
- Correspondence of Herbert Druce (1846-1913)
- Correspondence and other papers of Roland Trimen (1840-1916)
- Editorial Papers of Professor Edward Bagnall Poulton (1856-1939)
- Correspondence and Papers of Hugh Warner Bedford (1894-1979)
- Correspondence and Papers of Colbran Joseph Wainwright (1867-1949)
- Papers of George Charles Champion (1851-1927)
- Journals of Rev. Alfred Edwin Eaton (1844-1929)
- Journals, notebooks, correspondence and papers of other entomologists
- A selection of entomological illustrations
- Photographs of entomologists
There is not currently an online catalogue of the archive, however, a print catalogue, “A guide to the archives of the Royal Entomological Society” covering much of the collection is available for reference within the library. Please contact the librarian if you have any questions regarding the archive, or if you wish to make an appointment to view any of the archival material.
Scanning and Copying
The Library can supply copies of material to both Members and non-members. Please e-mail your copy requests to library@royensoc.co.uk using the Copy request form
For copying costs, please see the Copy Fees.
Where material requested for copying is not available within the library, we will endeavor to obtain it elsewhere, for which there may be additional charges.
Partnerships with other Societies
We are committed to offering services to the entomological community and to our partnerships with the British Entomological and Natural History Society (BENHS) the Amateur Entomologists Society (AES) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) If you would like to access RES library services as a BENHS, AES or ZSL member, please email library@royensoc.co.uk
The Librarian
The librarian, Rose Pearson, may be contacted by phone on 01727 899387 (International +44 1727 899387) or email: library@royensoc.co.uk
Suggest a library resource
Do you have a book, journal, resource or other suggestion for us? Fill in the form below and let us know why you love it.
