This was originally a Society of young noblemen and gentlemen who had visited Italy and gone on the Grand Tour. It started purely as a social club, but came to play a prominent part in matters of taste, particularly in the study of antique art. From 1732 members met regularly, and had varied serious interests. These included the architectural and archaeological remains of Greece, the Near East and Italy, and significantly, from the 1750s, they promoted an English Academy of Painting and Sculpture, which ultimately led to the formation of the Royal Academy.
Independently of Winckelmann, and before his posthumous fame, they financed a succession of expeditions and published the results in various works, including The Antiquities of Athens and Ionian Antiquities that laid the foundations of the serious and systematic study of the Classical antiquities. They stimulated Lessing and Goethe, and contributed powerfully to the Classical revival in the late eighteenth century. The Department of Antiquities in the British Museum owes many of its finest, and nearly all its earliest treasures to the discernment, enthusiasm and public spirit of members of the Society. In particular collections were provided by, among others, Sir William Hamilton (1730 – 1803), Charles Townley (1737 – 1805), Sir Richard Colt Hoare (1758 – 1838), and the 4th Earl of Aberdeen (1784 – 1860).
From their earliest meetings they appointed an official painter, among whom were Knapton (the first one), Reynolds, Leighton, Sargent etc.
These papers consist of Minute Books from 1736, Manuscript Letter Books from 1736-1866, and General Papers, Accounts etc. The records provide an important record of intellectual life in the eighteenth – nineteenth centuries.
11 reels
Reference: DIL
Contents
| Reel | Description |
| 1 | Minute Books Volumes 1 – 9 (1736 – 1908) |
| 2 | Accounts & Committee Minutes Volume 1 (1822 – 1865) |
| Accounts & Committee Minutes Volume 2 (1866 – 1877) | |
| 3 | Manuscript Letter Books Volume 1 (1736 – 1800) |
| 4 | Manuscript Letter Books Volume 2 (1800 – 1830) |
| 5 | Manuscript Letter Books Volume 3 (1831 – 1834) |
| 6 | Manuscript Letter Books Volume 4 (1835 – 1842) |
| 7 | Manuscript Letter Books Volume 5 (1841 – 1850) |
| 8 | Manuscript Letter Books Volume 6 (1851 – 1866) |
| 9 | Dilettanti Society Papers miscellaneous boxes of correspondence. (1732 – 1900) |
| Dilettanti Society Papers miscellaneous boxes of correspondence. Box 1 | |
| 10 | Dilettanti Society Papers miscellaneous boxes of correspondence. Box 2 |
| 11 | Miscellaneous accounts volumes etc. (1732 – 1900) |