Karl Britton Papers

The papers are primarily concerned with Britton's philosophical work, but the early files also include some correspondence, etc. which he received as President of the Cambridge University Union Society, 1930/31. Britton's publications included Communication: a philosophical study of language (London, 1939), John Stuart Mill (London, 1953; 2nd ed. 1970), and Philosophy and the meaning of life (London, 1969), as well as numerous articles and reviews. The papers include correspondence, notebooks, files of his own published and unpublished works, reports (chiefly for Cambridge University Press) on other authors' manuscripts, and recollections of Cambridge mentors and contemporaries including C.D. Broad, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Kim Philby.

Karl Britton graduated from the University of Cambridge (Clare College), where he was President of the Union, 1930/31, and knew Ludwig Wittgenstein. He did postgraduate work at Harvard University, and then held lectureships at Aberystwyth and Swansea before being appointed in 1951 to the chair of philosophy at King's College, Newcastle upon Tyne (then part of the University of Durham, later the University of Newcastle upon Tyne). During his tenure there he held various offices, including Dean of Arts, Public Orator, and Chairman of the Library Committee. He retired in 1975. In 1976 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Durham.

Notebooks, followed by files of loose papers, grouped by category of material.

Open for consultation.

Deposited by Professor Britton's daughter, Miss Margaret Britton, 1993.

Online catalogue

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