Science & Society Picture Library

About the Science & Society Picture Library

SSPL now has over 150 image collections from both within and outside the museums' core collections. These contain over 70,000 online records, including over 40,000 digital images. SSPL holds a range of images documenting contemporary scientific practice and research, including medical testing, DNA, cloning, energy and other key areas. An A-Z portrait index containing thousands of photographs, engravings and paintings of significant figures from all areas of human endeavor, including science, the media, industry, medicine, technology, sport and politics. The National Railway Museum houses the largest collection of railway posters in the world. Commissioned by British Rail and its predecessors from some of Europe's leading graphic artists, the posters advertise destinations and rail services within Britain and abroad. The picture library contains thousands of images taken from the library's early illustrated books - including many rare books published before 1800. They include images from original works by Copernicus, Galileo and Isaac Newton - and many early illustrated books, such as the famous accounts of voyages of discovery by Captain Cook, Charles Darwin and others. The collections of objects and images at the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television document the history of photography, film and television from the earliest days. The collections include many impressive individual archives, including photographs by William Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, Lewis Carroll and Francis Frith. The archive of advertising photographer Zoltan Glass (1903 - 1982) contains thousands of unique pre-war German motor racing images. Once the busy working picture library of the Daily Herald newspaper, this archive contains over three million pictures of a wide range of subjects, both in Britain and abroad, c 1920 - 1964. The thousands of paintings, prints and photographs contained within the Science Museum's Pictorial Collection illustrate the origins and development of science, industry and technology from the earliest days to the present. SSPL has the core collection of the picture library that once served the Manchester Daily Express. It contains over 200,000 pictures dating from the beginning of the 20th century to 1989 - particularly good coverage of the 1960s to 1980s. The vast collections of the Science Museum include some of the most significant objects in the history of science, industry, medicine, technology, media and transport in Britain and the world, including many 'firsts'. Documenting the origin and growth of the railways to the present day, the collections of the National Railway Museum contain more than a million negatives from official and private sources, along with paintings, lithographs and engravings of important events in railway history. Notable among the photographs are the 10,000 pictures (in colour and black & white) taken by the British Transport Films Unit that document life and work in Britain from the 1940s to the 1970s. Photographic Advertising Limited was a major supplier of stock images for commercial use from the 1930s to the 1950s. This archive of around 10,000 photographs is an amazing record of the fashions and attitudes of the era. The archive comprises manuscripts, papers, photographs and drawings connected with pioneers in the field of science, medicine, technology, transport and industry. This unique and extensive collection also includes letters from famous personalities such as Queen Victoria. Kodak donated the entire contents of their museum to the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television when it opened in 1976. This unique collection of cameras and other objects traces the history of photography and film and also includes a superb collection of over 10,000 photographs, illustrating a huge range of subjects. Science & Society Picture Library is the sole representative of the work of the influential 1960s photographer Tony Ray-Jones whose archive is now in the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television. He quickly became famous for his highly individual and distinctive style and particularly for capturing the unguarded moments of people from all strata of society. Science & Society Picture Library holds a large archive of incredible images from the National Aeronautics & Space Administration, USA. This collection includes all aspects of space and space exploration (both manned and unmanned) from the 1950s to the present day. SSPL contains many images that illustrate the workings of a busy national museum. Subjects covered include children enjoying gallery interactives, views of the museum's innovate galleries and displays, museum staff at work together with the press events held.