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Pierre Eugène du Simitière collection, 1492-1784 (inclusive)

Extent:
3.8 linear feet and 12 containers, 4 volumes
Abstract:
Pierre Eugène Du Simitière (1737-1784) was a collector, artist, and historian, who opened the first public museum, the American Museum, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the American Musuem, Du Simitière presented his many materials collected during his travels and from his collections. The Library Company of Philadelphia purchased many of the manuscript materials at an auction in 1785 following Du Simitière’s death and the closing of the American Museum. The following collection is Du Simitière’s manuscript collection purchased at this auction. The collection reflects his interests and his lifestyle and includes poetry, sketches, watercolors, newspaper excerpts and clippings, treatise, correspondence, lists of nature, historical chronologies, bibliographies, and copies and originals of historical documents. The collection includes compiled information on places such as the West Indies, Pennsylvania, New England, New York, and the Carolinas in the form of historical chronologies,...(see more)

Held at: Library Company of Philadelphia [Contact Us]

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Ferdinand J. Dreer autograph collection, 1492-1925 (inclusive)

Extent:
105.0 linear feet (; 330 boxes, 133 volumes, 2 flat files)
Abstract:
Ferdinand Julian Dreer’s chief hobby was collecting autographs. He started with two documents and over time he was able to amass more than 15,000 items from some of the world’s most prominent and intriguing public figures. Owing to this interest, Dreer became acquainted with many people in the world of arts and letters, politics, education, clergy, business, and international affairs. As he was aware of such a collection’s potential impact on scholarship and society, Dreer donated all of his holdings to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, with which he had been associated for many years as the institution’s vice president.

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Penn family papers, 1629-1834 (bulk) 1592-1960 (bulk 1629-1834) (inclusive)

Extent:
56.0 linear feet (51 boxes; 222 volumes)
Abstract:
The British colony of Pennsylvania was given to William Penn (1644-1718) in 1681 by Charles II of England in repayment of a debt owed his father, Sir Admiral William Penn (1621-1670). Under Penn's directive, Pennsylvania was settled by Quakers escaping religious torment in England and other European nations. Three generations of Penn descendents held proprietorship of the colony until the American Revolution, when the family was stripped of all but its privately held shares of land. The Penn family papers house the personal and governmental records of William Penn, the proprietor of Pennsylvania, and his family. This collection, which dates from 1592 to 1960 (bulk of materials dating 1629 to 1834), consists primarily of correspondence, legal records, governmental records, surveys, deeds, grants, receipts, and account books; there are also 19th and 20th century auction catalogs and other secondary materials. This collection documents the creation of the Pennsylvania colony through...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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English legal documents collection, 1592-1810 (inclusive)

Extent:
1 box
Abstract:
This collection contains 52 assorted English legal documents. Most are brief transactional records attesting to land sales, contracts, or estate settlements. Though mostly unrelated, there are a few small groups of connected documents, such as the five certificates of payment by Captain Roger Martin to various parties executed during December 1685. Beyond these transactional documents are a 1679 record of arguments before the Privy Council as well as a 1770 warrant for the arrest of Nicholas Gwyn, an Ipswich medical doctor.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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Daniel G. Brinton collection on Spain and New Spain, 1582-1854 (inclusive)

Extent:
1.4 linear feet (4 boxes)
Abstract:
Daniel Garrison Brinton (1837-1899) was a Philadelphia surgeon and anthropologist who created, collected, and donated collections of books and manuscripts related to anthropology, colonization of the Americas, and native American linguistics. This collection on Spain and New Spain documents, to a limited degree, Spain's relationships with its colonies and other European powers while struggling to maintain its empire.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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Robert H. Taylor Collection of English and American Literature, 1280s-1958 (inclusive) 1800s-1930s (bulk)

Extent:
51 boxes, 229 items, and 13 volumes
Abstract:
The Robert H. Taylor Collection consists of over 4,000 3,300 manuscripts illustrating in their wide range the scope of English literature from the fourteenth century to the 1940s. This finding aid focuses on the modern manuscripts, both bound and unbound, in the collection, which is designated "RTC01" within the Manuscripts Division of the Special Collections Department of the Princeton University Library.

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

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Ernest Cushing Richardson Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Documents, 1380-1851 (inclusive)

Extent:
12 boxes and 23 items
Abstract:
The Ernest Cushing Richardson Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Documents consists of medieval and renaissance documents and manuscripts collected by Ernest Cushing Richardson, an American librarian and author. Of principal interest are some 350 documents (deeds, bonds, contracts, investitures, wills, and other legal documents), chiefly dating from 1380 to 1550 and written in Milan, Alessandria, Brescia, Cremona, Lodi, and other northern Italian cities.

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

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Simon Gratz autograph collection, 1343-1928

Extent:
190.0 linear feet (; 633 boxes (18 volumes in boxes))
Abstract:
The collection was assembled by Simon Gratz, Philadelphia lawyer, school board member, and trustee of the Free Library. He began collecting at age 17 and, by the time he died, amassed about 175,000 manuscripts and portrait engravings and lithographs. Many of the latter he personally commissioned. In 1916 he became a vice-president of the Historical Society. Gratz continued until the end of his life to deal with such notable American collectors as George Brinley, Louis J. Cist, Adrien Joline, Charles J. Jones, E.H. Leffingwell, and Joseph J. Mickley. The dealers with whom he dealt included Charavay in Paris, Naylor and Maggs in London, Cohn in Berlin, Benjamin in New York, and A.S.W. Rosenbach in Philadelphia. The records of his transactions survive from 1861 to 1925 in his "Autograph Journals." On January 1, 1925, Gratz noted that his collection had, because of astute sales and exchanges, "cost less than nothing." Gratz acquired his collection by exchange with and purchase from a...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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Simon Gratz autograph collection, 1517-1925 (inclusive)

Extent:
130.4 linear feet (; 326 boxes)
Abstract:
This autograph collection was created by Simon Gratz, starting in his late teens. A myriad of documents are included and represent Gratz’s philosophy of collecting and the many relationships he formed with other collectors in the United States and abroad. Contained here are autographed letters, legal documents, and artifacts from many prominent and well known figures and personalities in the arts, religion, government, education, and military. While there are some non-substantive letters written to Gratz much of the collection includes correspondence between prominent women and men across classes, professions, and nationalities. The collection dates from the sixteenth century to the early twentieth century. Besides date range, this collection differs slightly from the Simon Gratz collection (#250A) in its alphabetical arrangement, compared to the arrangement by categories/subjects (Case) in #250A. One other distinction in this collection are the personal letters and papers of Simon...(see more)

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]

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