Bertrand Russell Archives Catalogue Entry and Research System

Since 1988

William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections,
McMaster University Library
The Bertrand Russell Research Centre

Search the Database

The results of a search will be summarized in a list with links to the full records.

Texts of over 1,300 letters are available for public searching in BRACERS. For more on the project see The Collected Letters of Bertrand Russell at the Russell Research Centre.

For a full, up-to-date and quantified list of Russell’s correspondents, consult this link.
Check the BRACERS (II) article for still-growing tables of Russell’s addresses while he corresponded.

Abbreviations of Letter Formats in the Form Field

The Form field’s abbreviations for letters and other documents are composites of the following common elements:

• A autograph (i.e. handwritten)
• C card
• (CAR) carbon copy
• D dictated
• (DX) digital image (i.e. a scan)
• E envelope
• GC greeting or birthday card
• L letter
• (M) microfilm
• (MIM) mimeograph
• MS manuscript
• N note
• PD printed document
• REC receipt
• S signed
• T typed
• (TC) typed copy
• TEL telegram
• TS typescript
• (X) photocopy

Frequent combinations of these elements are:

• AC Autograph Card
• ALS Autograph Letter Signed
• ALD Autograph Letter Dictated
• MS(X) Manuscript (Photocopy)
• TL(CAR,X) Typed Letter (Carbon Copy, Photocopy)
• TLS Typed Letter Signed
• TLS(DX) Typed Letter Signed (Digital Copy)
• TEL(TC) Telegram (Typed Copy)

Abbreviations in the Published Field

The Published field uses the following abbreviations for book and periodical editions of the letters.

• Auto.: The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell. 3 vols. London: Allen & Unwin, 1967–69.
• B&R: Kenneth Blackwell and Harry Ruja, A Bibliography of Bertrand Russell. 3 vols. London: Routledge, 1994. Updates are “New Periodical Articles by Russell” and “New Periodical Articles by Russell (II)”.
• Berlin, Letters: Isaiah Berlin. Letters, 1928–1946. Edited by Henry Hardy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
• BR’s America: Barry Feinberg and Ronald Kasrils, Bertrand Russell’s America. Vol. 1, 1896&endash;1945: London: Allen & Unwin, 1973. Vol. 2, 1945&endash;1970: Boston: South End Press, 1983.
• Bradley, Correspondence: Carol A. Keene, ed. Collected Works of F.H. Bradley, Vols. 4–5, Selected Correspondence. Bristol: Thoemmes Press, 1999.
• Brixton: B. Russell. The Brixton Letters. Edited by K. Blackwell, A.G. Bone, N. Griffin, S. Turcon. Hamilton, ON: Bertrand Russell Research Centre, 2018.
• Burn, Turned towards the Sun: Michael Burn. Turned towards the Sun: an Autobiography. Norwich: Michael Russell Publishing, 2003.
• Chowdhury and Dasgupta, Masterful Spirit: I. Chowdhury and A. Dasgupta. A masterful spirit: Homi J. Bhabha, 1909–1966. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2010.
• Clark, Life of BR: Ronald W. Clark, The Life of Bertrand Russell. London: Jonathan Cape / Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1975.
• Dear Bertie: Rick Stapleton, ed. Dear Bertie: a Selection of Letters to Bertrand Russell. Website editor, Bridget Whittle. Hamilton, ON: McMaster University Library, 2018–19.
• Dear BR: Dear Bertrand Russell: a Selection of His Correspondence with the General Public, 1950–68. London: Allen & Unwin, 1969.
• Denonn 1941: L.E. Denonn. “Bibliography of the Writings of Bertrand Russell”. In P.A. Schilpp, ed. The Philosophy of Bertrand Russell. 4th ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1963. Vol. 2: 743–828.
• Eliot, Letters: V. Eliot et al. The Letters of T.S. Eliot. Vols. 1–3 (1898–1927). London: Faber and Faber. 1988–2012.
• Grattan-Guinness, Dear Russell—Dear Jourdain: I. Grattan-Guinness, Dear Russell—Dear Jourdain: a Commentary on Russell’s Logic, Based on His Correspondence with Philip Jourdain. London: Duckworth, 1977.
• Lawrence, Letters: Harry T. Moore, ed. D.H. Lawrence’s Letters to Bertrand Russell. New York: Gotham Book Mart, 1948.
• Leggett: H.W. Leggett. Bertrand Russell O.M. London: Lincolns Praeger, 1949.
• Malleson, After Ten Years: Constance Malleson. After Ten Years: a Personal Record. London: Cape, 1931.
• Malleson, In the North: Constance Malleson, In the North: Autobiographical Fragments in Norway, Sweden, Finland: 1936–1946. London: Gollancz, 1946.
• McGuinness, W. in Cambridge: B.F. McGuinness, ed. Wittgenstein in Cambridge: Letters and Documents 1911–1951. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
• Mróz 2008: Tomasz Mróz. “Bertrand Russella Spotkanie z Wincentym Lutosławskim”. Przeglad Filozoficny, n.s. 17 (2008): 83–100.
• Nordin: Svante Nordin. Ingemar Hedenius: en filosof och hans tid. Stockholm: Natur och Kultur, 2004.
• Outline of Philosophy: B. Russell. An Outline of Philosophy. London: Allen & Unwin, 1927.
• P.China: B. Russell. The Problem of China. London: Allen & Unwin, 1922.
• PP:The Problems of Philosophy. London: Williams and Norgate, 1912.
• Papers: The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell. 19 vols. to date. London: Allen & Unwin / Unwin Hyman / Routledge, 1983–
• SLBR:The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell. 2 vols. Edited by Nicholas Griffin. Vol. 1, London: Penguin Books, 1992; Vol. 2 (assisted by Alison Roberts Miculan), London: Routledge, 2001. References are by letter number.
• Reichenbach: Hans Reichenbach. Selected Writings. Edited by Maria Reichenbach and R.S. Cohen. Vol. 1: 1909–1953. Boston: Reidel, 1978.
• Santayana, Letters: William G. Holzberger, ed. The Letters of George Santayana. 8 vols. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001–08.
• Schmid, Russell—Couturat: B. Russell. Correspondence sur la philosophie, la logique et la politique avec Louis Couturat (1897–1913). Edited by A.-F. Schmid. 2 vols. Paris: Kimé, 2001.
• Utley: Freda Utley. Odyssey of a Liberal: Memoirs. Washington, DC: Washington National Press, 1970.
• Wells, Correspondence: David C. Smith, ed. The Correspondence of H.G. Wells. 4 vols. London: Pickering & Chatto, 1998.
• Wood: Alan Wood. Bertrand Russell, the Passionate Sceptic. London: Allen & Unwin, 1957.
• Yours Faithfully, BR: R. Perkins, ed. Yours Faithfully, Bertrand Russell. Chicago: Open Court, 2002.

For printouts and enhanced searching, contact russarch@mcmaster.ca at the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections.

Background

• For the database structure, see “Description of BRACERS Fields”.
• For the system, see “BRACERS (I)“, Russell, n.s. 10 (1990): 158–64; “BRACERS (III): System Review and Querying the Topic_Text Field“, Russell, n.s. 15 (1995): 65–72.
• “Doing Archival History with BRACERS“, The Bertrand Russell Research Centre Newsletter, no. 2 (2003): 3–4.
• A brief update after 35 years is in “Editors’ Notes”, Russell 43 (2023): 2.

Maintained by K.Blackwell 16.10.23.