Marconi Collection

Marconi Corporation plc and the University of Oxford have announced an agreement to transfer the historic Marconi Collection to the Bodleian Library and the Museum of the History of Science, both part of the University of Oxford. Marconi has agreed to gift the Collection to the University where it will have a safe and secure future, preserving the integrity of this unique collection. Through the generosity of the Wireless Preservation Society a full time archivist will be appointed to catalogue the Collection over the next three years.

Dating from 1895, this is an unrivalled collection of Marconi artefacts, apparatus, and printed material, much of which formed the basis of early wireless communication.

This includes:

• The early patents, such as the famous “7777” patent which, in 1900, solved the problemof multi-station operation without mutual interference;
• Apparatus used in the first transatlantic wireless transmission of 1901;
• A wealth of historical documents including telegrams sent during the Titanic disaster of 1912; whose subsequent Board of Enquiry endorsed the recommendations of Guglielmo Marconi, fundamentally improving safety at sea and saving countless lives;
• Items relating to the birth of broadcasting, such as the microphone used by the legendary Australian diva, Dame Nellie Melba to broadcast the world's first live recital in 1920.

The Museum of the History of Science will put on permanent public display some of the over 250 artefacts from the Collection. In an adjacent building, the Bodleian Library will house the thousands of papers, letters, and other printed material going back to 1895, making them available for viewing and research access. The BAFTA award-winning website www.marconicalling.com, based on the Marconi Collection, is also to be transferred to the University.

The University of Oxford has commenced planning for a major exhibition of items from the Collection in the Spring of 2006.

It is expected that the University of Oxford will work together with the Essex Record Office and the Museums Service in Chelmsford such that a representative set of historic items from the Collection are on display at an appropriate location in the town, the original home of the Marconi Company from 1898 and the acknowledged “Birthplace of Radio”.

Further details