| 1 | Author: | Martin de La Bastide, M. | Add | | Title: | Mémoire sur la possibilité, les avantages, et les moyens douvrir un canal dans l'Amérique septentrionale, pour communiquer de la mer Atlantique, ou du Nord, à la mer Pacifique, ou du Sud, [ca. 1785]
| | | Dates: | Circa 1785 | | | Abstract: | This document contains a travel journal kept by Chevalier Bourgoyne. It traces his travels through the Pacific and elsewhere. Thomas Jefferson obtained this manuscript in 1785. Jefferson left an annotation on the first page.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | Call #: | Mss.386.M36 | | | Extent: | 1 volume(s) | | | Topics: | Beyond Early America | International Travel | | | Genre: | Manuscript Essays | Travel Narratives and Journals | |
4 | Author: | Welch, George,fl. 1671. | Add | | Title: | Journal, 1671, of a voyage to the West Indies
| | | Dates: | 1671 | | | Abstract: | This bound manuscript contains the journal of George Welch while he traveled to the Caribbean. The manuscript is formatted to appear like a printed work, with a title page and preface written to his family members. After the opening, Welch describes his passage to the West Indies, with details on the voyage, pirates, and life on the islands. A devout Quaker, a lot of Welch's writing is infused with religiosity. Interestingly, this journal was in the library of Benjamin Franklin.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | Call #: | Mss.917.29.W46j | | | Extent: | 1 volume(s) | | | Topics: | International Travel | Religion | | | Genre: | Manuscript Essays | Travel Narratives and Journals | | | Subjects: | Pirates. | Voyages and travels. | |
6 | Author: | Billings, William, 1746-1800 | Add | | Title: | Journals of the Ship Apollo, 1789-1791
| | | Dates: | 1789-1791 | | | Abstract: | These journals (three volumes) chronicle the voyages of Apollo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1789-1791. William Billings was the captain of this Philadelphia-based ship. The destinations were Oporto and Corunna, and trade was the purpose for the voyages. Nonetheless, the ship's captain, William Billings, used the opportunity to study the Gulf Stream. He made numerous observations about the ocean temperature and weather with the apparent intention of submitting his findings to the American Philosophical Society. He paid particular attention to marking and studying the Gulf Stream. The journals were partially published in with a note in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society shortly after they were received in 1793. The originals are much longer than those published and include additional observations not published and graphs that could not be replicated.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | Call #: | Mss.656.B49 | | | Extent: | 2 volume(s) | | | Topics: | Business and Skilled Trades | International Travel | Trade | | | Genre: | Meteorological Data | Scientific Data | | | Subjects: | Meteorology -- Observations. | Voyages and travels. | |
15 | Author: | Kane, Elisha Kent, 1820-1857 | Add | | Title: | Elisha Kent Kane Papers
| | | Dates: | 1810-1953 | | | Abstract: | This large collection contains the papers of Elisha Kent Kane, a prominent Philadelphian who led the U.S. Exploring Expedition.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | Call #: | Mss.B.K132 | | | Extent: | 6.75 Linear Feet | | | Topics: | Americans Abroad | Exploration. | International Travel | Marriage and Family Life | Social Life and Custom | | | Genre: | Family Correspondence | General Correspondence | Travel Narratives and Journals | | | Subjects: | Abolition, emancipation, freedom | Africa | Arctic Indians | Arctic regions-Pictorial works | China -- Foreign relations -- United States | Colonization, repatriation | Exploration | Explorers -- United States | Geometry -- Study and teaching | Grinnell Expedition, 1st, 1850-1851 | Grinnell Expedition, 2d, 1853-1855 | Hospitals -- Pennsylvania | Indians of North America -- Nunavut | Inuit -- Canada | Inuit -- Greenland | Inuit -- Nunavut -- Baffin Island | Medicine -- Practice -- Pennsylvania | Medicine -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania | Meteorology -- Arctic Regions | Mineralogy -- Study and teaching | Northwest Passage | Obstetrics | Plantations | Slave trade -- Africa | Slaves, slavery, slave trade | United States -- Foreign relations -- China | United States. Navy | |
16 | Author: | Lesley, J. P. (J. Peter), 1819-1903 | Add | | Title: | J.P. Lesley Papers
| | | Dates: | 1826-1898 | | | Abstract: | J.P. Lesley was a prominent Pennsylvanian who became a leading geologist. This collection contains a range of materials that relate to his life. The content of the correspondence is not just scientific. Instead, subjects span a wide-range of topics, including European travel, the Civil War, politics, art, literature, personal affairs, and family matters. The papers also reflect Lesley wide-ranging scientific interests. Although a geologist, Lesley also dabbled in demographic studies, religion, and philology. A fair amount of the collection is from the 1850s and beyond. Much of this early correspondence is among family members, but some letters are from prominent reformers, such as Lydia Maria Child. Among the Lesley papers are poems, journals, and notebooks. Two boxes date from 1841 to 1851, which, notably, deal with the period before Lesley became a full-time geologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | Call #: | Mss.B.L56 | | | Extent: | 7.75 Linear Feet | | | Topics: | Americans Abroad | International Travel | Literature, Arts, and Culture | Marriage and Family Life | | | Genre: | Family Correspondence | General Correspondence | Literature | Scientific Data | Travel Narratives and Journals | | | Subjects: | Abolition, emancipation, freedom | Avesta | Cartography. | Charities -- United States. | Education -- United States | Egyptian language -- Writing, Hieroglyphic | France -- Description and travel | Funeral rites and ceremonies -- Egypt | Geological Survey of Pennsylvania | Geology -- Maps | Geology -- Nova Scotia -- Surveys | Geology -- Pennsylvania | Germany -- Description and travel | Hawaiian language | Javanese language | Nova Scotia -- Surveys | Obelisks | Paleontology -- Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania -- Surveys | Philology | Poems | Slavery -- United States. | Social conditions, social advocacy, social reform | Switzerland -- Description and travel | Transcendentalism | Unitarianism | |
17 | Author: | Marchant, Henry, 1741-1796 | Add | | Title: | Henry Marchant diary, 1771-1772
| | | Dates: | 1771-1772 | | | Abstract: | This is a typescript copy of Henry Marchant's journal that he kept on his trip to England in 1771-1772. The journal begins with his voyage from Newport to England and continues throughout his travels in England. The journal is detailed and well-written and contains many anecdotes and observations, including numerous references to Benjamin Franklin, who was then himself in London. Marchant's social gatherings are particularly noteworthy. He recounts a discussion of republican principles with Catherine Macauley, dinners with Franklin and David Hume, and an audience with the Queen and Prince of Wales.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | Call #: | Mss.B.M332 | | | Extent: | 1 volume(s) | | | Topics: | American Revolution | Americans Abroad | Beyond Early America | International Travel | Science and technology | | | Genre: | Manuscript Essays | Travel Narratives and Journals | |
18 | Author: | Morton, Samuel George, 1799-1851 | Add | | Title: | Samuel George Morton Papers
| | | Dates: | 1819-1850 | | | Abstract: | The Samuel George Morton Collection provides a window into the life of this nineteenth century scientist, explorer, and natural historian. The collection holds a wide-range of materials, and the correspondence touches on many different subjects. The entry in MOLE contains an item level accounting of the collection and its contents. The collection begins in the 1820s, when Morton is just beginning his career and continues through to the 1840s. Letters touch on topics, such as the treatment of Native Americans, Indian burial grounds, discoveries of fossilized remains, and medical education. Material on the Wilkes Expedition and especially on Morton's early medical career is covered in depth. One letter contains a request from General Lafayette for a skull of an Indian for his own scientific collection. Most of the letters are to Morton and contain results of experiments or observations from travel and exploration. Additionally, the Diary to the West Indies form 1834 offers insight into the culture of the islands. Morton's own involvement in the scientific racism is prominent in much of his later writing. Included in the collection are sketches of his "craniometrical drawings," which were used by pro-slavery advocates.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | Call #: | Mss.B.M843 | | | Extent: | 2.25 Linear Feet | | | Topics: | African American | Exploration. | International Travel | Travel | | | Genre: | General Correspondence | Scientific Correspondence | Travel Narratives and Journals | | | Subjects: | Archaeology | Aymara Indians | Botany | Craniology. | Craniometry | Education | Egyptology. | Geology | Indians of North America -- Kentucky | Indians of North America -- Massachusetts | Indians of North America -- Mississippi | Indians of North America -- Ohio | Indians of North America -- Physical characteristics | Indians of North America -- Rhode Island | Indians of North America -- Tennessee | Indians of South America -- Peru | Indians of South America -- Physical characteristics | Medicine | Mineralogy | Miscegenation | Natural history | Naumkeag Indians | Ornithology | Paleontology | Pentland, Joseph Barclay | Phrenology | Race | Race, race relations, racism | Science and technology | Skull. | Slavery -- Barbados | Slaves, slavery, slave trade | United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842) | |
19 | Author: | Rafinesque, C. S. (Constantine Samuel ), 1783-1840 | Add | | Title: | C. S. (Constantine Samuel) Rafinesque Papers, 1808-1840
| | | Dates: | 1808-1840 | | | Abstract: | The Rafinesque Collection consists of two types of documents: correspondence and copies of his writings. The correspondence is separated into three distinct parts: general correspondence, correspondence with Augustin Pyramus de Candole (a Swiss botanist), and correspondence with John Quincy Adams. The copies of his writings consist of manuscript essays, notebooks, lectures, and other materials that discuss various scientific topics, especially botany.
View finding aid for a full description
| | | Call #: | Mss.B.R124 | | | Extent: | 1.75 Linear Feet | | | Topics: | International Travel | Native America | Natural history | Science and technology | Travel | | | Genre: | Manuscript Essays | Native American Materials | Notebooks | Political Correspondence | Scientific Correspondence | | | Subjects: | Anishinaabe | Biology, genetics, eugenics | Botany. | Culture, community, organizations | Delaware Indians | Indians of North America -- Louisiana | Ojibwa Indians | Osage Indians | Ottawa Indians | Plains Indians | Race, race relations, racism | Wallam olum | Zoology. | |
|