Ass. MSS 8330, 8875: Papers of G. E. Moore

George Edward Moore (1873-1958) was an undergraduate and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge 1892-1904, and lecturer and professor of philosophy in the University from 1911 to 1939. The Library acquired Moore's personal papers and correspondence in 1980 (Add. MS 8330), and his philosophical papers in 1991 (Add. 8875). The two collections have been put together and catalogued as one archive.

The personal papers include Moore's diaries 1909-16, letters to his parents 1882-1904, correspondence with his brothers and sisters, notably the poet Tom Sturge Moore, school essays, and family photograph albums. The correspondence consists of letters from 439 individuals, including Moore's friends Desmond MacCarthy, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ralph Wedgwood, Lytton Strachey, G. H. Hardy, and G. M. Trevelyan, and from other philosophers such as Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Frank Ramsey, Karl Popper, Henry Sidgwick, J. E. McTaggart, John Austin, John Laird, H. W. B. Joseph, Arthur Lovejoy, Norman Malcolm, and J. H. Muirhead.

The philosophical papers contain the bulk of Moore's notes for his Cambridge lecture courses 1911-39, together with notes for occasional lectures or short courses elsewhere, for example in the USA 1940-44. There are papers for the Cambridge 'Apostles' and for the Moral Sciences Club, notes taken at lectures by Russell and Wittgenstein, commonplace books, and many draft lectures, essays and reviews. The collection also includes books and pamphlets from Moore's library, many with his annotations.

A full, typescript catalogue to both collections is available in the Manuscripts Reading Room.

Contact: Department of Manuscripts (01223 333143; mss@lib.cam.ac.uk).

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