The AC Archives contain a wide-ranging collection of documents going back to the earliest days of mountaineering, and as such form an invaluable resource for researchers.
Archive Contents
- Diaries, personal accounts of expeditions and ascents, and correspondence, including, for example, the first letter to be written from the summit of Mont Blanc, and Mallory's last letter to Odell from Camp 6 on Everest.
- The original Fuhrerbucher/Carnets of leading alpine guides.
- The archives of the Ladies Alpine Club
- Newspaper cuttings from the mid 19th century to the present time.
- Minutes of the Alpine Club meetings and newsletters from the foundation of the Club in 1857 to the present day (restricted access)
- Membership application papers (restricted access)
- Presidential and Secretarial papers (restricted access)
Access to material
There is an electronic catalogue of the Archives, accessed through the Hon. Archivist and/or Librarian, and also through the National Archive Discovery site.
The Archives are normally open two days a week (Tuesday and Thursday). If you wish to visit please check first with the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and copied to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The Hon Archivist and Librarian can also be contacted by telephone on +44 (0)207 613 0745.
We can provide photocopies or scanned images of archive documents on request.
The Eileen Healey Diaries
Eileen Healey was a very active climber, a member of the Ladies Alpine Club, and subsequently of the AC. After her death in 2010 her family discovered boxes in the attic containing a remarkable series of climbing diaries, starting with family holidays with the Holiday Fellowship in the 1930s, through to her honeymoon in Norway in 1958. They had not previously known of their existence. The diaries include detailed descriptions of her rock climbing in the UK, and also of climbing in the Alps starting in the late 1940s, soon after the Alps became accessible again following the war.
The family presented the diaries to the AC, and we scanned them. Eileen’s husband Tim arranged for them to be transcribed, and their son Jamie edited them into their current form. It was a condition of the gift to the AC that the diaries be made as accessible as possible, and you can read them all here.
Eileen was a member of the all-female expedition to Cho Oyu in 1959, and we also have archive material from this expedition, including a film made by Eileen.
Mandalay and Beyond
Produced for publication by Cathy Woodhead and Charles' wife Denise Evans, 'Mandalay and Beyond: An Army Doctor’s Diary' chronicles the experiences of Charles Evans as a newly qualified doctor in Burma (now Myanma) during the 1944-1945 conflict.
Unusually observant and perceptive, Evans writes with humour and compassion in a simple, direct style.
The full manuscript can be accessed in pdf format by clicking on the image of the book cover oppopsite.
Mumm's Register
The Alpine Club Register, commonly known as 'Mumm's Register' is a complete record of all Alpine Club members elected from 1857 to 1890, compiled in 1907 by its then Honorary Librarian A.L. Mumm, and published in 3 volumes 1923-1928. These full accounts of AC members include their personal details, their routes, climbs and ascents, including first ascents or passages, climbing companions, arranged chronologically, their articles printed in the Alpine Journal and elsewhere, and their published books.
The original edition of the Register is now a rare and expensive work, but remains an indispensable resource for researchers and all those interested in the 19th century Alpine Club pioneer climbers in the Alps and Himalaya. The Alpine Club Library is delighted to be able to make the complete 3-volume work available online, free of charge. The complete scan of this document was prepared and donated to the library by Marcel Fischli of Switzerland, alpine historian, friend of the Alpine Club and Library, and donor of his published works to our library shelves.
To access pdf files of each of the three volumes, follow the links below.
Alpine Club Register Vol.1 (1857-1863)
Alpine Club Register Vol.2 (1864-1876)
Alpine Club Register Vol.3 (1877-1890)
Charges
For personal visitors to the Archives we suggest a minimum donation of £10 per visit, (free for AC members).
| Standard photocopy fee | 50p per sheet |
| AC members and students | 25p per sheet |
| Postage | Charged at cost |
For research carried out on your behalf by the Archives' staff, please request a quotation.
