Manuscripts
This series contains the correspondence of American physicist and educator Alexander Dallas Bache (1806-1867), and chiefly consists of correspondence addressed to Bache from 1827-1867 (with very few letters after 1864). Subject matter includes:
A. Girard College (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
1. Bache's presidency, 1836-1842
Bache's tour of Britain and the European continent preparatory to formulating a plan of organization for the college.
B. The United States Coast Survey: Bache was appointed in 1843 as Superintendent of the Coast Survey to succeed the late Ferdinand R. Hassler, and continued to direct the Survey until his death. These letters, however, relate more to the personnel of the organization rather than to the work itself.
C. Bache's interest in the development of science
1. Terrestrial magnetism research
2. Correspondence with contemporaries, chiefly in the fields of physics, mathematics, and astronomy
3. Interest in and support of scientific expeditions
4. The establishment of scientific institutions and departments of science
D. The Civil War
1. The work of the Coast Survey
Reports of events from former associates
The Sanitary Commission, of which Bache was one of the vice presidents.
Some notable items include:
A letter from Horace Binney offering Bache the chair of "Natural Philosophy" at the University of Pennsylvania (August 29, 1828)
Notes by Whitley Stokes, Regius Professor of Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin, on a "Plan of organization for a College near Philadelphia" (November 22, 1836)
8 letters from Belgian astronomer Lamber Adolphe Jacques Quetelet (1836-1849)
29 letters from Sir Edward Sabine chiefly concerning their mutual interest in magnetic research (1839-1864)
7 letters from Humphrey Lloyd, provost of Trinity College, Dublin, dealing with magnetism (1840-1851)
36 letters from American physicist Benjamin Peirce, chiefly personal but with considerable mention of science and fellow scientists (1845-1863)
32 letters from Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, both personal and relating to science (1847-1864)
2 letters from members of the Perry expedition, which opened relations with Japan: one from George Henry Preble (April 2, 1854) and one from John Rodgers Goldsborough (May 15, 1854)
2 letters from subsequent Admiral John Rodgers regarding a theory of tides (March 31 and April 2, 1855)
5 items from Elisha Kent Kane concerning Arctic expeditions (1852-1856)
6 letters from Isaac Israel Hayes concerning his polar expedition (1858-1862)
15 letters from Isaac Ingalls Stevens, highly critical of Union generalship, particularly in South Carolina (February 22-August 5, 1862)
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