Royal Geographical Society - Our Collections

About our Collections

Find out more about the vast collection of items we hold.

Search our Collections

Find what you are looking for with our online and offline services.

Online exhibitions

Get immersed in the stories behind our Collections from the comfort of your home.

Picture Library

Our Picture Library is one of the world's finest collections of photography and artworks, recording over 200 years of travel, people, place and geographical discovery.

Visit the Foyle Reading Room

Plan a visit to the Foyle Reading Room to consult and research items in our Collections.

Support the Collections

Support our Collections by buying prints, donating items or becoming a member of the Society.

Collaborative research on the Collections

We are part of the Science Museums and Archives Consortium, which each year award six AHRC-funded collaborative doctoral studentships.

Enduring Eye: The Antarctic Legacy of Sir Ernest Shackleton and Frank Hurley

One of the greatest ever photographic records of human survival on display in a remarkable exhibition created by the Society, curated by polar historian Meredith Hooper.

Wiley Digital Archive

A digitisation project enabling hundreds of thousands of items from our Collections to be digitised, allowing access to wider audiences in order to support teaching and learning.

Upcoming Collections events

Be Inspired: Travellers in the Great Steppe: uncovering a hidden history - Nick Fielding

[Online] In his new history of the exploration of the steppes, Nick Fielding shows that there is a hidden and far more diverse history for this vast region that is commonly known in the West, and that Western travellers and adventurers have been visiting this area since the days of the Mongols.

Be Inspired: Woman with the iceberg eyes - Katherine Macinnes

[Online] Oriana F. Wilson CBE was married to Dr Edward Wilson, Captain Scott's best friend. From housewife to CBE and NHM collector, Woman with the Iceberg Eyes traces the fascinating story of an Edwardian lady after whom Oriana Ridge, Antarctica, is named.

Be Inspired: Genealogy, geography and archives - Chandan Mahal

[Online] This talk recounts how people of Punjabi descent worked with the Society's archive to explore the places associated with their ancestral heritage using maps and photographs alongside their own family archives.

Be Inspired: Always ready for an expedition - Natalie Cox

[Online] From expeditions in Africa, through the debating halls of the Royal Geographical Society, to a study in Trieste, this talk recounts the extraordinary life of explorer Richard Burton whilst embracing the wider history of 19th century science.

Supporting our Collections

Our Collections are supported by Rolex.

Our Collections