Scope and Contents

Approximately 70 copper plates used to produce the illustrations by Lucy Say for Thomas Say's American Conchology : or, Descriptions of the Shells of North America, 1830.

Overview The first woman to be elected a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Lucy Say was an accomplished nature artist and scientific collaborator with her famous husband Thomas Say. She made 66 of the 68 delicate and accurate drawings of North American mollusks for Thomas Say's American Conchology, at New Harmony, and did most of the painstaking coloring of the plates. This collection consists of 25 drawings (pencil and watercolor), seven hand colored plates of North American...

Scope and Contents From the Collection: The collection consists of 704 letters addressed to Haldeman, Constantine Rafinesque and Thomas Say, with a letterbook of 22 letters written by Haldeman. In subject, the letters refer to paleontology, conchology, entomology, ichthyology, to Indian relics and to spelling reform. A letter from Leidy is illustrated and several of those written by Haldeman bear pencil sketches. In his letterbook is information about a proposed U. S. Naval Expedition to South America with J. G. Strain, and...