Sir Edmund Hertslet and his work as librarian and keeper of the Papers of the Foreign Office from 1857-1896

Abstract

This study deals with the evolution of the office of librarian and keeper of the papers during Edward Hertslet's tenure and with his part in the deliberations which influenced the political decisions of the Secretaries of State he served. Some reference is made to the work of his predecessor and father, Lewis Hertslet, whose "tradition" he carried on. Hertslet's tenure of office is marked by two main features : a significant change in the character of the duties performed by the librarian and a consequent improvement in his status; and an increase in the number of publications issued. Hertslet published authoritative treaty maps of Europe and Africa, separate collections of treaties on trade, as well as continuing the famous series begun by his father - the British and Foreign State Papers and the Commercial Treaties. The change in the character of the librarian's duties applied in particular to the supplying of memoranda. Apart from treaty questions which had been the Hertslets' special province since 1823, the memoranda were originally of a purely historical character, dealing with British relations with foreign powers in former times. The aptitude shown by the Hertslets, however, and the increasing pressure of business during the middle decades of the century, caused the political departments to devolve more and more of the work which was theirs by right on to the librarian, who produced an ever growing number of memoranda with immediate bearing on current issues. Hertslet's contribution to the conduct of policy has been considered in relation to diplomatic issues in the Near East, the treaty claims of the powers in Africa and the Pacific, and the boundary dispute between Britain and the Netherlands in North Borneo. The thesis is for the most part based on the official archives of the Foreign Office, supplemented wherever possible by collections of private papers.