The Rayleigh Library houses one of the Nation's foremost physics collections. This comprises of about 20,000 books in the field of physics and related subjects, and about 40 current journals and a substantial collection of older journals. The Library also houses a significant historical collection of physics books dating from its foundation, which includes the original works of James Clerk Maxwell and books from his personal collection. The Napier Shaw [Meteorology] Library consists of a further historical collection of works, plus some current journals.