PREFACE 



THE first edition of this work appeared in the year 1897 

 under the editorship of the two Secretaries, the late 

 Professor Michael Foster and Professor A. W. Riicker. 

 Its object was to provide a compendium of information, largely 

 historical, regarding the rise and progress, the organization and 

 work of the Royal Society. A new edition was proposed to be 

 issued every five years, comprising such alterations and additions 

 as time might show to be necessary ; but eventually the Council 

 arranged that a second edition should be published at the end 

 of the year 1901 as an appropriate date at the beginning of a new 

 century. The chief feature in the second edition was the inclusion 

 of two lists of the Fellows of the Society from its foundation, 

 one arranged chronologically, the other alphabetically. In the 

 preparation of these lists much difficulty was experienced in veri- 

 fying some of the earlier names, and the lists were consequently 

 not quite complete or accurate. 



Experience has shown that as the Annual ' Year-book ' contains 

 the requisite information regarding the current affairs of the 

 Society, and as the ' Record ' deals mainly with matters of 

 historical interest, the interval of five years, originally con- 

 templated for the appearance of the successive editions of the 

 latter volume, is too short a period to warrant the labour and 

 expense which would be involved in such a frequent .reissue. 

 The approaching celebration of the 250th anniversary of the 

 Society's foundation seemed, however, to the President and 

 Council to be an appropriate occasion for preparing a new 

 edition of the ' Record ' which should be thoroughly revised and 

 brought up to the present condition of the Society. Hence the 

 present third edition is now issued. 



The material of the volume has been rearranged, and for 

 convenience of reference has been divided into chapters, in 

 the preparation of which the officers and the clerical staff have 



