Manuscripts
George Copland letters
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George Bentley letters
Manuscripts
HM 83966: George Bentley addresses "Dear Sir" on November 6, 1893. In this letter, Bentley asks the addressee for additional copies of his book After Business. He states he gave away all but 1 of the 100 copies printed. He also asks about a "Mr. Howell." HM 83967: Writing from Tenby Wales, George Bentley addresses "Mr. Cousens" on March 10. Bentley inquires Cousens about the status of a proof and asks to him to sign his name in full at the bottom.
mssHM 83966-83967
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George Gregory letters
Manuscripts
George Gregory wrote these 10 letters to his fiancée, Anne Hemings, in London after his arrival in New York. He talks in detail about: his attempt to find work, his financial problems, his lodgings, his meals, the trials of separation, etc. He also talks a lot about the Americans in New York, their manners and their clothes.
mssHM 81175-81184
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Manuscript account of George Clymer
Manuscripts
The first 13 pages of Clymer's manuscript contain notes from his journals, with random observations, about his time in Southern California, including Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Monterey. Clymer talks about the people he sees, their clothes, customs, dwellings, etc. He also describes California's weather, landscape, agriculture and crops. The remaining 83 pages are written in a narrative style and concern Clymer's time in South America, including Peru, Bolivia and Chile. Clymer also briefly discusses the political history of the area, touching on the Peru-Bolivian Confederation in the late 1830s, and mentioning the lengthy string of wars fought in Peru and elsewhere since independence from Spain; as well as, the effects of civil war in Bolivia. He also talks about his voyage in the Pacific, the sea creatures he sees, the calmness of the Pacific Ocean, etc. The manuscript has numerous corrections and additions, indicating that Clymer perhaps intended it for publication, or at least for a more personal public audience.
mssHM 72090
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George Lawson letters
Manuscripts
The letters, most of which were written by George Lawson to his parents back home in Illinois, are about Lawson's experience mining for gold and living in the mining town of Ophir, California; there are several letters written from Sacramento, as Lawson spent some time in that city as well. His letters include details regarding gold discoveries, prices for supplies, the gold specimens he was sending home, and the machinery he was using for gold mining. There are two letters, probably written in 1864 and 1865, by L. L. Thaxter, that describe his experience with the Sanitary Commission, his visits to Civil War hospitals, and his encounters with wounded soldiers. Thaxter also discusses Ulysses S. Grant and the approaching end of the war. There are also two photographs included with the letters
mssHM 63927-63938
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George Willing Clymer letter to Mary Willing Clymer
Manuscripts
Letter sent by George Clymer to his mother while he sailed on the Constellation for his first deployment as a US Navy apprentice surgeon. The Constellation set sail from New York on August 14, 1829, and arrived in the West Channel near Cowes, England, on September 11. Clymer begins by briefly recounting the "gloomy epistle of a landsman" that he had sent to his father regarding the difficult ocean crossing, and relating his excitement at finally spotting land off the Isle of Wight. Much of Clymer's detailed and eloquent letter is devoted to describing the scenery and towns he saw in England, along with historical anecdotes. After being allowed to go ashore he explored Cowes, which he noted was "different from the towns I had seen in America, and wears and air and aspect of a city." He was also struck by the "roast-beef and porter corporations, and the ruddy faces of the well-fed Englishmen," and widely praised the island's roads and means of transportation. He visited West Cowes Castle and the Royal Yacht Club and gives an extended description of attending afternoon tea at a hotel. After being denied permission to travel to London, Clymer returned to the Isle of Wight, seeing Carisbrooke Castle, Appuldurcombe Park and Mansion, Parkhurst Forest, the Albany Barracks, Newport, and Norris and East Cowes Castles. On a subsequent shore leave he briefly traveled to Portsmouth Harbor, Portsea, Portsmouth, and Southampton. On returning to his ship for the last time, he wrote that "I can now declare that I have passed [in England] fifty of the happiest hours of my life." He later cooled his opinion somewhat, lamenting the "extravagant beyond expectation" costs in England (which he recorded in some detail) compared to those in the United States, the "knaves" who charged higher prices to Americans, and the necessity of tipping servants. He concluded that he found the English "polite, but grossly ignorant of America." After being refused a gun salute by British naval officers, the Constellation circumnavigated the Isle of Wight and set sail south on September 21. Clymer compares the Spanish and African coasts, writes of being impressed by the town and fortress of Gibraltar, describes the Mediterranean Sea, and notes passing the islands of Formentera and Majorca. The Constellation approached Mahon Harbor in Minorca, where they were to meet the ship Delaware, on October 15, but a major storm blew the ship back out to sea. It finally reached the harbor on October 18, and Clymer concluded that "we had performed a voyage of 1500 miles in 28 days; the time we required in sailing twice that distance from New York to Cowes."
mssHM 79957
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George Cooper Pardee letter to "Miss Bovyer,"
Manuscripts
Letter sent by George Cooper Pardee while he was attending medical school in Leipzig, Germany, in 1882. Pardee writes of various friends from U.C. Berkeley, who he calls the "'79ers." He relates news of their various jobs, political positions, and experiences in Alaska, the Carolinas, Colombia, and elsewhere. Although he mentions most of his friends by last name only, there are references to John Hoffman Wheeler, Joe Scotchler, Morse, Kelsey, Cougdon, Rothchild, Dorn, Campbell , and Clowes, among others. Included with the letter is an autograph card by Pardee.
mssHM 27916