Correspondence and Papers of Rodney Robert Porter

Title

Correspondence and Papers of Rodney Robert Porter

Shelfmark

MSS. Eng. misc. c. 995-1011, d. 1398-1434, e. 1534-1536

Summary

Biographical [MSS. Eng. misc. c. 995-996, d. 1398-1399]

Research Notebooks [MSS. Eng. misc. d. 1400-1434, e. 1534-1536]

Oxford [MSS. Eng. misc. c. 997-998]

Organisations & Consultancies [MSS. Eng. misc. c. 999-1004]

Visits & Conferences [MSS. Eng. misc. c. 1005-1006]

Journals & Publications [MS. Eng. misc. c. 1007]

Correspondence [MSS. Eng. misc. c. 1008-1011]

Porter spent much of his time in the summer of 1985 preparing for his retirement from the Whitley Chair of Biochemistry and transfer to full-time research at the MRC Immunochemistry Unit. This, unfortunately, seems to have involved wholesale destruction of unwanted or outdated files and the retention only of material which he considered to be of immediate relevance.

The collection is in consequence thin in certain respects and skewed towards the later stages of Porter's career. This applies especially to Sections E (Visits and Conferences) and F (Journals and Publications); the surviving correspondence in Section G has also suffered. Of special personal interest is the sequence of Porter's letters home during his army service, and some of the recollections of Porter by colleagues and friends. Section B is of the greatest scientific interest; it preserves a complete sequence of research notebooks covering almost half a century (1936 - 1985) and providing not only a record of experiments and observations but a direct insight into Porter's methods of work and especially his tenacity over long periods of trial and disappointment. The books document the early and later successful stages of the work on crystalline papain, the work on complement, and Porter's last research ideas, which continue to form the basis of ongoing experiments. Section D (Organisations and Consultancies), though confined to material of recent date, is also of interest in documenting Porter's continuing service to academic and industrial medical research and his interest in the history of British immunology as shown in his work for the Jenner Trust.

Date

1933-1986

Language

English

Physical extent

57 boxes

Acquisition

The bulk of the material was received through the courtesy of Dr. K.B.M. Reid from the MRC Immunochemistry Unit at the Department of Biochemistry, Oxford.

The wartime letters and a little biographical material, were received from Mrs. Julia Porter, who retains some additional documents, principally relating to the award of the Nobel Prize, photographs and memorabilia.

The tributes and recollections were assembled and made available by Dr. Lisa Steiner.

Subject

Chemistry

20th century

Immunology