Miscellaneous papers, 1799-1835 Digital

The letters, reports, statutes, and financial records in this subseries document the administration of the Massachusetts Professorship of Natural History and the Botanic Garden by the Board of Visitors. The earliest records document the votes taken by the Board of Visitors to establish the Natural History professorship and Botanic Garden, the appointment of William Dandridge Peck as Natural History professor, the assent of the Massachusetts Society Promoting Agriculture to the establishment of the professorship, the creation of the Board of Visitors, and the rules and regulations of the professorship. Letters refer to Peck's acceptance of his appointment, Peck's botanical studies in Sweden and Paris, note donations made to the Botanic Garden, including those by Hannah Brackett (1735-1805) of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the acquisition of a natural history cabinet from J.B. Delacoste (1740-1815), a French naturalist (1805), and expenses for the garden (1817). A letter from David Hosack (1769-1835), founder of Elgin Garden in New York City, the first botanic garden in the United States, describes Elgin Garden's hothouses and greenhouses (includes a sketch) in 1810. Reports note Peck's visit to established European gardens to gather seeds, plants, and books (1805); activities taken to improve the operation of the Botanic Garden by members of the Board of Visitors (1809); and the transfer of the Board of Visitors financial assets to Harvard College (1831). Financial reports provide information about the financial position of the Board and note cash, stock, land, bonds, papers, and books belonging to the Board of Visitors. Receipts document the purchase of stock, land, books, skins for parchment, garden fences, expenditures for salaries and wages, and the delivery of an insect cabinet, plants, woods, fruits, and drawings of fishes to Thaddeus W. Harris (1795-1856), Harvard College librarian, in 1834. A catalog of books (ca. 1805) in the Department of Natural History can be found on pages 47 and 48.