Before 2016 and the Lanchester Interactive Archive project at Coventry University, the various donations or purchases that came to the university and its predecessors were never catalogued using archival standards. This meant that each accession was listed (if at all) in isolation from other accessions and this has influenced the structure of the current catalogue. The result is that the accessions have to be treated as separate sub-collections ('series') in the main Lanchester collection.
More information on the following series can be found in their introductions.
LAN/1 'Baxter' correspondence:
This was the first Frederick Lanchester material to be received by what was then the Library of Lanchester College of Technology, Coventry and was donated by Lanchester's widow Dorothea in August 1961. It was the bulk of Lanchester's private papers that remained at his house after his death in 1946. Before this the papers had been used by Dr Peter Kingsford for his biography of Lanchester 'The Life Of An Engineer' (Edward Arnold, 1960) and by Lanchester's brother George for a paper to the Newcomen Society. The items were catalogued by College Librarian Eric Baxter in 1966.
LAN/2 'Fletcher' correspondence:
These items include personal papers of Frederick Lanchester, financial records and reports to committees, especially relating to his work on aeronautics during the First World War. They were listed by Librarian John Fletcher and other members of staff after being purchased at auction in 1982.
LAN/3 Blueprints for the 21hp, 30hp, 40hp and other Lanchester models, including the Lanchester Armoured Car:
Three index volumes of the blueprints are also included. This material was donated by Lanchester enthusiasts.
LAN/4 Note books:
Fred Lanchester's pocket note books (dating from 1894) donated by the Lanchester family.
LAN/5 Sketch books:
Fred Lanchester's sketch books used to note ideas and drawings as they came to him at his desk - purchased at auction in 1982.
LAN/6 Patents:
Most of these items are photocopies of original patents held elsewhere and include patents by Fred Lanchester, George Lanchester and others.
LAN/7 Glass plate slides and negatives:
Mostly donated by Lanchester family details and enthusiasts. Some were used by George Lanchester when giving talks or presenting papers.
LAN/8 Blueprint 'negatives':
Negatives of photo prints made from the blueprints for bck-up and access purposes.
LAN/9 Photograph albums:
These images were originally in two large volumes and appear to be part of a bigger series (as indicated by the image numbers). They show photographs and prints of cars and parts taken for sales, marketing, advertising and general publicity purposes, as well as for use in company manuals and publications. Many of the photographs indicate who the cars had been sold to and frequently show the cars being delivered. There are also images of the interior and exterior of the Lanchester works at Armourer Mills, Montgomery Street, Sparkbrook, Birmingham.
The images had been pasted on to pages of old receipt books (usually two on each page) which were fire-damaged by the time they were purchased at auction by the university library in 1991. After conservation work the pages of the volumes were encapsulated and re-bound into six volumes.
Unlisted material and additional deposits will be sorted and catalogued and added to the collection. These items currently include records from the Lanchester family and Lanchester experts.