Year: <span class="single" data-blrl-single="1640">1640</span> - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

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treatise, correspondence, lists of nature, historical chronologies, bibliographies, and copies and originals of historical documents.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]

Held at: Quaker Meeting Records at Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections and Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]

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]

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]

Extent:: 47.8 linear feet and 52 containers, 64 volumes
Abstract:: Samuel X Radbill (1901-1987) began his medical career as a general practitioner in 1926 and became a pediatrician in 1938, when he was certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. Radbill was perhaps better known as a medical historian, and collector of bookplates and old and rare medical texts than as a pediatrician. He believed that the study of medicine’s past was useful to its practice, and he encouraged many of his professional colleagues to examine the history of their specialties. The Samuel X Radbill papers evidences Radbill’s deep and unrelenting interest in the history of medicine, particularly the history of pediatrics and dermatology, folklore, ancient medicine, medical art and medical bookplates. Of note, in the collection are three of Radbill’s personal collections related to the history of medicine: collections of pamphlets, brochures and articles; medical art and other pictorial works; and medical journals and texts--all dating from the eighteenth to the twentieth...(see more)

Held at: Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia [Contact Us]