Herbarium of Henry David Thoreau
Scope and Contents
This collection includes plant specimens collected by Henry David Thoreau starting in 1850. In addition to the main collection of plant specimens, there is also a bound volume which is titled Catalogue of Herbarium of Henry D. Thoreau, beqeathed to Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist., which consists of a hand-written listing of the specimens included in the herbarium.
The collection is digitized and available here.
The specimens are databased in the Harvard University Herbaria Index of Botanical Specimens. That is the most up-to-date and complete record of the specimens. Use the barcode to search for individual specimens. The database includes additional information including collecting locality, date, and notes.
Dates
- Creation: 1850-1862
Creator
- Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862 (Person)
Extent
1 collection (651 sheets of plant specimens in 28 boxes, 1 box of original wrappers, and 1 manuscript (46 pages)) ; specimens 59 x 69 cm; manuscript 22 cmHistorical Note
Henry David Thoreau may be best known as a writer, but he was also a botanist who collected hundreds of specimens of New England plants to create his own herbarium. Thoreau's earliest herbarium specimens were collected in 1850. Over the next few years, he read many botanical works and increased his field observations. Thoreau continued to collect for his herbarium over the following years, until his collection grew to about 900 specimens.
Arrangement
The specimens are arranged by plant family. They are divided into Portfolios, then Folders, then each sheet of specimens is assigned a specimen number, and is located in a numbered box.
Other Finding Aids
There is a detailed item level finding aid in the repository with box, portfolio, folder, and specimen sheet numbers. For additional information please contact botref@oeb.harvard.edu.
Creator
- Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862 (Person)
- Title
- Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862. Herbarium of Henry David Thoreau, 1850-1862: A Guide
- Status
- in_progress
- Author
- Harvard University Herbaria and Botany Libraries.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- gra00059
Repository Details
Part of the Botany Libraries, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard University Repository
The Harvard University Herbaria houses five research libraries that are managed collectively as the Botany Libraries. The Gray Herbarium Library specializes in the identification and classification of New World plants with emphasis on North American plants. The Archives of the Gray Herbarium houses unique resources including personal papers, institutional records, field notes and plant lists, expedition records, photographs, original artwork, and objects from faculty, curators, staff, and affiliates of the Gray Herbarium.
Harvard University Herbaria
22 Divinity Ave
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2366
botref@oeb.harvard.edu