| | Author: | Alexander, William, 1726-1783 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Variation of the compass, 1773
| | | | Dates: | 1773 | | | | Abstract: | This slender volume is an essay by William Alexander, a prominent figure in New Jersey politics and business. Alexander wrote this essay with the hope that it would spur the American Philosophical Society to support the study of variations in compasses. Alexander's interest in this subject likely had to do with his background as a merchant. He realized compass variations created inefficiencies and risks for captains and the merchants that relied on them. Alexander appeals specifically to the APS's mission by stating that such a study would be "useful to mankind." Alexander's essays shows that he is conversant in many of the current theories about variations. He also proposed a plan for the APS to facilitate a systematic study of compass variations that he believed would produce a clear general law for variations in compasses.
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| | | | Call #: | Mss.522.76.Al2 | | | | Extent: | 1 item(s) | | | | Topics: | Science and technology | Surveying and Maps | Trade | | | | Genre: | Scientific Correspondence | Scientific Data | | | | Subjects: | Astronomy -- 18th century | Compass. | Learned institutions and societies. | |
| | Author: | Vaux, George, V, 1721-1803 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Vaux Family Papers, 1690-1996
| | | | Dates: | 1690-1996 | | | | Abstract: | The George Vaux Papers is a massive collection which is focused on the business and financial interests of a prominent Philadelphia family. What follows is a list of some of the more notable parts of this expansive collection:
- Correspondence: There is a massive amount of correspondence, much of which is personal and familial in nature. Nonetheless, the letters often discuss politics, current affairs, and society. The earliest records date to 1701, although the great bulk are focused on the revolutionary era to the first quarter of the nineteenth century.
- Almanacs, 1790-1870: The collection contains a large collection of small pocket almanacs from Philadelphia. Some of the earliest ones contain records of financial transactions and diaries.
- Charles Thomson Correspondence: The collection has a series of letters from Charles Thomson, the Secretary of the Continental Congress. These letters are from the 1780s, after Thomson had largely retired from the political arena.
- Legal and Estate Documents: This portion of the collection is extensive and difficult to summarize. The family owned a huge amount of property throughout the state. These papers contain deeds, information on rents, surveys of land, and other transactions. Moreover, the Vaux family had ties through marriage and friendship to other prominent families, and some of their estate business is included in this collection. Among the notable papers are documents pertaining to John and Sally Norris Dickinson's properties and the estates of the Emlens and the Sansoms. One document complements the Jane Aitken Collection, as it has an accounting of the Bible that she printed.
- Travel Accounts: Most notably, George Vaux VII made a trip to "Indian Country" in 1802-1803. He wrote numerous letters home and kept a small and incomplete travel journal.
- Philadelphia City Affairs: The Vaux were active in civic life. The collection contains information on city improvements, with specific letters and records relating to the water supply. The collection has letters that discuss building the Water Works, records of a Committee on the Sewers, and an agreement between the city and Peale's Museum.
- Business Affairs: The record of the Vaux's diverse business interests is contained in this collection. In addition to their land holdings, the Vaux's were very active in internal improvements, with records from numerous navigation companies held in the collection. The Vaux's were also involved in mining and mineralogy, including Pennsylvania's oil lands, which is also reflected in the content of this collection. Finally, there are partial records of some prominent Philadelphia institutions, such as the Bank of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Contributorship.
- Native American Documents - In addition to George Vaux's travels into Indian Country, there are extracts from Indian Treaties and some records of the Friendly Association in this collection.
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| | | | Call #: | Mss.Ms.Coll.73 | | | | Extent: | 150 Linear Feet | | | | Topics: | African American | American Revolution | Antebellum Politics | Early National Politics | Marriage and Family Life | Native America | Pennsylvania History | Philadelphia History | Social Life and Custom | Surveying and Maps | Travel | | | | Genre: | Business Records and Accounts | Family Correspondence | General Correspondence | Institutional Records | Legal Records | Maps and Surveys | | | | Subjects: | Abolition, emancipation, freedom | Genealogy. | Land speculation | Mineralogy. | Quaker businesspeople | Quakers -- Missions. | Seneca Indians | Slaves, slavery, slave trade | Social conditions, social advocacy, social reform | Yellow fever. | |
| | Author: | Castiglioni, Luigi, 1757-1832 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Viaggio negli Stati Uniti dell'America Settentrionale intrapreso negli anni 1785, 86, 87 da L. C., 1785-1787
| | | | Dates: | 1785-1787 | | | | Abstract: | This is a microfilm of an early American collection that may be of interest to researchers at the APS and may complement an original manuscript collection at the APS.
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| | | | Call #: | Mss.Film.1322 | | | | Extent: | 1 microfilm_reel(s) | | | | Genre: | Microfilm Collection | | | | Subjects: | Voyages and travels. | |
| | Author: | Du Pont, Victor Marie, 1767-1827 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Victor Marie Du Pont de Nemours correspondence, 1795-1797
| | | | Dates: | 1795-1797 | | | | Abstract: | This collection contains photocopies of correspondence from Victor Marie Du Pont Nemours, the brother of the patriarch of the DuPont family. Victor was a French diplomat who immigrated to Delaware in the early nineteenth century and became involved in politics and the family business. The correspondence is primarily from Dupont. The originals are held at Longwood Library, now the Hagley Museum.
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| | | | Call #: | Mss.B.D938v | | | | Extent: | 0.25 Linear Feet | | | | Topics: | Beyond Early America | Early National Politics | International Affairs | | | | Genre: | General Correspondence | |
| | Author: | Barton, Benjamin Smith, 1766-1815 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Violetta Delafield-Benjamin Smith Barton Collection
| | | | Dates: | 1783-1817 | | | | Abstract: | The extensive Benjamin Smith Barton collection contains six sections: Correspondence, Bound Volumes (including notebooks), Subject Files, and Graphic Materials. The material includes numerous images, sketches, notes, printed material, and other correspondence. The collection also has numerous copper plates that were used to print images drawn by Barton. Although a collection this large touches on a variety of interesting and important subjects, the collection's strength is its wealth of data on nineteenth century medical, botanical, and Native American studies.
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| | | | Call #: | Mss.B.B284d | | | | Extent: | 10 Linear Feet | | | | Topics: | Business and Skilled Trades | Education | Language and Linguistics | Literature, Arts, and Culture | Medicine | Native America | Natural history | Printing and Publishing | Science and technology | Travel | | | | Genre: | Art | Family Correspondence | General Correspondence | Language Material | Notebooks | Political Correspondence | Sketchbooks | Travel Narratives and Journals | | | | Subjects: | Bartram's Garden (Philadelphia, Pa.) | Botanists | Botany -- Study and teaching -- 19th century | Botany -- Virginia | Chemistry -- 18th century | Cherokee Indians | Cherokee language | Choctaw Indians | Dysentery. | Electricity -- 18th century | Ethnobotany | Geology -- 18th century | Gout | Indians of North America | Indians of North America -- Agriculture | Indians of North America -- Languages | Kaigana Indians | Kaskaskia Indians | Mammals -- Classification | Mandan Indians | Mastodons | Materia medica | Medicine -- Practice -- 18th century | Medicine -- Study and teaching -- 18th century | Meteorology -- United States -- 18th century | Meteors | Mineralogy | Natural history -- 18th century | Natural history -- 19th century | Osage language | Physicians -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia | Physics | Rittenhouse, David, 1732-1796 | Seminole Indians | Seneca Indians | Tuscarora Indians | University of Pennsylvania -- Faculty | Venereal disease | Yellow fever | Yellow fever -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- 1793 | Zoology -- 18th century | |
| | Author: | Academia de Ciencias de Guatemala. | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Vocabulario de la lengua Cakchiquel
| | | | Dates: | Circa 1675 | | | | Abstract: | This manuscript collection falls outside the geographic scope of the Early American guide (British North America and the United States before 1840). It may be of interest to scholars interested in global history, international relations, imperialism, or the U.S. in the world.
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| | | | Call #: | Mss.497.43.V85 | | | | Extent: | 1 volume(s) | | | | Topics: | Beyond Early America | | | | Subjects: | Cakchikel language | Mayan languages | |
| | Author: | Sack, William | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | A vocabulary in the Mingo tongue taken from the mouth of William Sack, a Canistogo Indian. . . and memorandum book
| | | | Dates: | 1757-1771 | | | | Abstract: | This volume contains a short vocabulary and an extended memorandum book. The vocabulary was taken from Will Sack, a Conestoga Indian, in January 1757 at Fort Augusta in the midst of the Seven Years' War. Sack would later become a controversial figure in Pennsylvania history. The Paxton Boys claimed he was a murderer and used his presence in the Conestoga's camp as pretext for their assault on the Conestoga Indians. The memorandum book contains the financial transactions of an unknown individual during the 1760s, although some evidence suggests that Edward Burd kept this memorandum book and vocabulary.
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| | | | Call #: | Mss.497.3.V852m | | | | Extent: | 1 volume(s) | | | | Topics: | Native America | Pennsylvania History | Seven Years' War | | | | Genre: | Business Records and Accounts | Language Material | Native American Materials | |
| | Author: | Voltaire, 1694-1778 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Voltaire letters, 1751-1778
| | | | Dates: | 1751-1778 | | | | Abstract: | This is a microfilm of an early American collection that may be of interest to researchers at the APS and may complement an original manuscript collection at the APS.
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| | | | Call #: | Mss.Film.693 | | | | Extent: | 10 microfilm_reel(s) | | | | Genre: | Microfilm Collection | |
| | Author: | Malesherbes, Chrétien Guillaume de Lamoignon de, 1721-1794 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Voyage en Angleterre, 1785 April 3-May 27
| | | | Dates: | 1785 April 3 - 1785 May 27 | | | | Abstract: | This manuscript collection falls outside the geographic scope of the Early American guide (British North America and the United States before 1840). It may be of interest to scholars interested in global history, international relations, imperialism, or the U.S. in the world.
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| | | | Call #: | Mss.B.M291 | | | | Extent: | 1 volume(s) | | | | Topics: | Beyond Early America | | | | Subjects: | Gardens -- England. | Palaces -- England. | |
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