Peck correspondence and papers relating to the Massachusetts Professor of Natural History, 1775-1937

Contains research notes, writings, botanical drawings and impressions, and personal and professional correspondence of William Dandridge Peck, dated 1777-1827. Included are letters to his father, sister, and brother regarding family matters and travel, and letters to colleagues and academic contemporaries such as Dr. William Jackson and Harvard Professor Eliphalet Pearson, related to identifying new species of insects and fish. A portion of the correspondence are typescript and photostat copies. Peck’s drawings include leaves from species of plants and trees he found in Harvard Yard and elsewhere; fish; and his plan for a botanic garden at Harvard. There are also dried plant specimens that are apparently the only remnants of Peck’s herbarium. After Peck was appointed Massachusetts Professor of Natural History at Harvard, the college sent him abroad to Scandinavia and Europe to study natural history and prepare for his new position; the collection includes two travel diaries he kept from 1806-1807, containing his scientific and cultural observations and drawings of plants, animal skulls, monuments, and architecture in Scandinavia, Europe, and England. Also included are financial records of the Harvard Department of Natural History, such as receipts for Peck’s salary and accounts related to the maintenance of the Harvard Botanic Garden. In addition, there are some papers and research notes of two Peck biographers, D. Foster Taylor and Thomas Barbour, dated 18375-1937.