Manuscripts

William Buckland letter to John Stevens Henslow

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Description: In this four-page handwritten letter, Buckland talks about an excavation in Ely, Cambridgeshire. Henslow was working on it at the time but Buckland also knew the site. Buckland goes into detail about the strata of the "Great Gault Pit," and sketched the pit for Henslow (in pencil, with labels in ink). Buckland also talks about other geology issues as well as a skeleton of a megatherium (an ancient giant sloth) that Henslow found.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1833, September 11.
Call number: mssHM 70385
Creator: Buckland, William (1784-1856)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased from Jeremy Norman & Co., Inc., December 8, 2008.

Edward Bannerman Ramsey letter to John Stevens Henslow

Manuscripts

In this four-page letter, written by Edward Bannerman Ramsay in Edinburgh to John Stevens Henslow, Ramsay talks about his collection of plant specimens and requests that Henslow send him some that he does not already have. Ramsay also talks about other scientists including Charles Lyell, William Jackson Hooker, John Lindley, Robert Graham and George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie (Ramsay had just spent a week at Dalhousie Castle). The letter is in fragile condition.

mssHM 70387

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William Buckland letter to "My Dear Sir"

Manuscripts

mssHM 13767

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William Spencer letter to Adolph Sutro

Manuscripts

In his letter, William Spencer talks about finding land for the University of California, San Francisco.

mssHM 84064

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John C. Gowan letter to William Barton

Manuscripts

An autograph letter written and signed by John C. Gowan from Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico to William Barton in Providence, Rhode Island in early 1888. The letter contains important observations on the development of southern California and northern Mexico. Gowan writes of the temperate climate and how it helped with his chronic medical condition; he also goes on at length about the business opportunities in southern California, particularly Pasadena. He relays news of the church he and his congregation built in Baja California, and that it is slowly growing; Gowan also provides details about the fertile land and the crops which were grown in the area. He describes the United States business development by the International Company of Mexico and the plans to build railroads, roads, and telegraph lines. The letter has a small hole burned into the second page but overall it is in good condition.

mssHM 84049

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William H. Carlisle letters

Manuscripts

Two letters written by William H. Carlisle in January and April 1863 to his sister S. R. Carlisle in Marion County, Iowa. In the letters, Carlisle talks about his personal experiences in the war including his behavior, he assured them he was not drinking whiskey or playing cards, and his financial situation. In his second letter, which is very light and difficult to read, he talks about hearing canons at Vicksburg. Both letters are on patriotic stationery and include matching envelopes.

mssHM 83790-83791

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Richard E. Barnes letters to George Barnes

Manuscripts

Six letters written by Richard E. Barnes from Diamond Springs, California (about 5 miles south of Placerville), to his brother George Barnes. The letters give an interesting flavor of life in a gold rush community in the late 1850s. Barnes talks about wages, prices, problems with mail and communications, hunting adventures including a friend getting shot accidentally, a friend's bear fight with a grizzly, the vigilance committee, and his longing for people to write him and to go back home. Barnes goes into some detail about the mines and mining in the area and money being earned and lost.

mssHM 82353-82358

William Buckland letter to John Stevens Henslow

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Edward Bannerman Ramsey letter to John Stevens Henslow

William Buckland letter to "My Dear Sir"

William Spencer letter to Adolph Sutro

John C. Gowan letter to William Barton

William H. Carlisle letters

Richard E. Barnes letters to George Barnes