2026-10-09 Cambridge University Library ArchiveSearch

URL: https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk (searched in Chrome). Queries: "Rutherford Soddy" (3 results); Rutherford "Le Bon" (no records); Rutherford radium Bumstead (no records).

Found [web: https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk, fonds GBR/0012/MS Add.7653]: - "Ernest, Baron Rutherford of Nelson (1871-1937): Correspondence and Papers", fonds, reference GBR/0012/MS Add.7653, dates 1890-1938, owned by the University of Cambridge, open for consultation. Scope note: Rutherford's career (Cavendish under J.J. Thomson, McGill 1898-1907 where "he and Frederick Soddy advanced the transformation theory"). - Conditions note: "The only limitations to use are in respect of the low-level radioactivity of a small number of items in the collection." - Also: an agent record for Rutherford; a Churchill Archives Centre hit (interview related to Rutherford by Lawrence Badash, 1966-08 to 1967-04, seen in the result list). - Other sources cite items: Add.7653 notebooks NB 4 and NB 26-35, correspondence from Soddy (Todd 2014; Falconer 1987); a second accession Add.8249 (NLA microfilm record).

Result: partial. The fonds exists and is open; the online catalogue did not return item-level matches for Le Bon or Bumstead, so whether Rutherford corresponded with Le Bon is unknown. Bears on: claims 2 and 7 (private views on external energy and triggering), claim 6 (notebooks of the transmutation work). Next: ask the library for the Add.7653 handlist (correspondents index, e.g. Le Bon, Bumstead, Curie, Danne, Schuster on gravity).