| Collection | GB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections |
| Level | Series |
| Ref No | MS 3682/4 |
| Title | Correspondence |
| Date | 1940s - 1990s |
| Extent | 39 boxes |
| Description | Kosterlitz's professional correspondence with colleagues, contemporaries, professional associations, research and funding organisations, drug companies, official bodies and others, 1940s - 1990s. This period covers most of Kosterlitz's working life in Britain, with the exception of his first few years in Aberdeen, and the correspondence contains detailed information regarding his changing research interests and career development throughout these fifty years. There is also much latent information about the international research community in which Kosterlitz worked, and his enduring relationships with others engaged in similar research or sharing the common background of German exile. |
| Arrangement | The correspondence is arranged in three sub-series, largely reflecting the original order in which it was found in Kosterlitz's office after his death:
'General correspondence' appears to have been his principal and on-going series of professional correspondence with colleagues, drug and instrument companies from the late 1960s onwards.
Two boxes identified as 'Old correspondence' appear to contain contain remnants from an earlier 'general correspondence' series, dating from the 1940s - 1960s. This appears to have been weeded [possibly by Kosterlitz], as its volume is modest by comparison with the later series.
Two boxes identified as 'Important correspondence' contain significant correspondence relating to Kosterlitz's work on narcotics and human physiology, principally dating from the 1960s (but also including earlier letters). These files were identified by one of Kosterlitz's colleagues after his death and removed from his 'General correspondence' series at that point. |
| Access Status | Restricted |
| Access Conditions | Most files in the series are open, but some have access restrictions, in compliance with data protection regulations. |
| Related Material | See MS 3682/5 for correspondence and other papers relating to awards and appreciations. A small file of personal correspondence is also catalogued in MS 3682/7/8. |