# Digital Collections ![Illustration of a king protea (Protea cynaroides) with large pink petals and green leaves, drawn by A.T. Agate for the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842](/sites/g/files/omnuum6796/files/styles/hwp_21_9__1920x825/public/herbaria/files/wilkes_agate_protea.jpg?itok=3J2EwYbY) ## expand\_more The Botany Libraries are involved in a variety of scanning projects. Some of the most recent can be found below. Please [contact us](mailto:botref@oeb.harvard.edu) with any access or publication inquiries. Open all sections Close all sections ### The United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842) expand\_more The United States Exploring Expedition was the first government authorized naval expedition for scientific observation and an important step in the growth of science in the United States. Six ships sailed from Virginia under the command U.S. Navy Lt. Charles Wilkes (1798–1877) to explore and survey the southern seas including the Polar Regions. The expedition is also referred to as the “U.S. Ex. Ex.” or the “Wilkes Expedition.” **ABOUT THE COLLECTION** The Botany Libraries U.S. Exploring Expedition material was scanned as part of the Harvard University Open Collections Project. The project, called [Expeditions & Discoveries,](http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/expeditions/) was made possible with the generous support of the Arcadia Fund. **FINDING UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION MATERIALS** - Archival Finding Aid: [United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/gra00016/catalog). - Harvard Open Collections (includes content from other Harvard Libraries): [United States South Seas Exploring Expedition (aka the Wilkes Expedition),1838–1842.](https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/expeditions-and-discoveries/feature/united-states-south-seas-exploring-expedition-aka-the-wilkes-expedition-1838-1842) - HOLLIS: [Records of the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 (inclusive).](http://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990006033490203941/catalog) - Smithsonian Libraries:[ ](http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/usexex/)[United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842.](http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/usexex/follow.htm) ### Edward Palmer Collecting Trips to Mexico and the Southern United States, 1853–1910 expand\_more [Edward Palmer](http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/expeditions/vcsearch.php?cat=photographic%20images&any=palmer) (1829–1911) made botanical, zoological, and archaeological collections in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Palmer collected over 100,000 specimens and discovered approximately 1,000 new species. He also visited local markets to procure plants and study their uses in local cultures, and his documentation of plant uses helped found modern ethnobotany. Palmer joined C. C. Parry’s 1878 expedition to Mexico, where he explored burial mounds and collected plants. He returned repeatedly to Mexico, making botanical and ethnological collections in Durango, San Luis Potosi, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas. While Palmer sent his specimens to major research institutions for analysis, many of his specimens lacked appropriate data about location and time of collection. Important information has survived in his field notes. **ABOUT THE COLLECTION** The Botany Libraries' Edward Palmer material was scanned as part of the Harvard University Open Collections Project. The project, called *Expeditions & Discoveries*, was made possible with the generous support of the Arcadia Fund. **FINDING EDWARD PALMER MATERIALS** - Archival Finding Aid, Field Notes and Papers [: Edward Palmer Plant Lists, 1874-1897](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/gra00071/catalog) - Harvard Open Collections: [Edward Palmer Collecting Trips to Mexico and the Southern United States, 1853–1910](https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/expeditions-and-discoveries/feature/edward-palmer-collecting-trips-to-mexico-and-the-southern-united-states-1853-1910) - HOLLIS: [Edward Palmer Plant Lists, 1879-1908](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990117494230203941/catalog) ### Archives and Specimens from the Boston Metropolitan Park Flora expand\_more In 1894 the Metropolitan Park Commission in Boston, Mass., commissioned the firm of Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot to survey of the plants of the woodland reservations. The firm appointed Warren H. Manning to lead a team of volunteers in consultation with local botanists to accomplish the work. The results were compiled, edited, and published by Walter Deane in 1896 under the title, *Flora of the Blue Hills, Middlesex Fells, Stony Brook and Beaver Brook reservations, of the Metropolitan Park Commission, Massachusetts.* Another outcome of the successful amateur-professional collaboration was the founding of the New England Botanical Club (NEBC) in 1896. **ABOUT THE COLLECTION** This collection presents the historic materials from various collections associated with Walter Deane’s Metropolitan Park census and includes nearly 2,000 specimens, 40,000 pages of manuscript material, and published books, articles, and maps. Funds to digitize the collection were generously provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (2010-2014). **FINDING** **MATERIALS RELATED TO THE BOSTON METROPOLITAN PARK FLORA** - [Grant Project Page](/book/archives-and-specimens-boston-metropolitan-park-flora), including links to Archival Finding Aids - HOLLIS: [Archives and Specimens from the Boston Metropolitan Park Flora](https://hollis.harvard.edu/primo-explore/search?query=any,contains,Archives%20and%20Specimens%20from%20the%20Boston%20Metropolitan%20Park%20Flora&tab=books&search_scope=default_scope&vid=HVD2&lang=en_US&offset=0&fromRedirectFilter=true) - BHL Collection: [Archives and Specimens from the Boston Metropolitan Park Flora](http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/browse/collection/Metroparkflora) - [The Friends of the Middlesex Fells Reservation](http:/www.fells.org/) ### Collection of Botanists' Autographs, circa 1740-1895 expand\_more Dr. Asa Gray began this collection of autographs during his first visit to Europe in 1839. He received many as gifts from Adrien de Jussieu, Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, and other friends. He made large additions on his later visits to Europe, especially in 1869 through the generosity of Vincenzo de Cesati of Naples. Many were added from his personal correspondents. In 1890 Isabella Batchelder James gave her valuable collection that included autographs of early American botanists and their correspondents to be incorporated with Dr. Gray's collection. Mrs. James’s collection was rich in portraits and complimented the many engravings that Dr. Gray obtained during his visits to Europe. Mrs. Gray later added a large collection of photographs of botanists. Mrs. Gray arranged and mounted the autographs, adding birth and death dates, the position, the distinguishing work, and the plant names for each. She also noted the record number of those books found in Pritzel's *Thesaurus*, the locations of collections, and whether the botanist had contributed to Torrey and Gray's in the *Flora of North America.* She restricted the collection to those made by Dr. Gray and Mrs. James. But where Dr. Gray had portraits and no autographs she tried to supply the autographs. She also added a few of the early collectors in America and those connected with the Herbarium since Dr. Gray's death. **ABOUT THE COLLECTION** There are 877 individuals represented from the mid-1600’s through the early 20th century. Highlights include letters penned by Erasmus (1731-1802), Charles (1809-1882), and Francis (1848-1925) Darwin. In addition to notable naturalists, the collection includes letters by Benjamin Franklin (London, 26 June 1774) and Thomas Jefferson (Washington, 1808). Funds to digitize the collection were generously provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences through the Harvard College Library in 2013. **FINDING JANE GRAY MATERIALS** - Archival Finding Aid. [Jane Gray Autograph Collection](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/gra00084/catalog) - HOLLIS:[Collection of botanists' autographs and biographies](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990080146300203941/catalog) ### Field Notes and Plant Lists expand\_more Harvard University Herbaria are known worldwide for the rich collections of type specimens that have been collected and curated by Harvard botanists since the establishment of a University Herbarium in 1864 under the supervision of Asa Gray. Documentation associated with the collections, including field notes, diaries, correspondence, maps, and photographs, are preserved in the well-curated Herbaria archives. These primary sources often enhance and elaborate on specimen label data. Two projects have expanded access to these collections by funding the digitization a wide array of materials. **Global Plants Initiative Field Notes Collections** The project includes the field notes of the botanical collectors Richard Alden Howard (1917-2003), Cyrus Guernsey Pringle (1838-1911), Richard Evans Schultes (1915-2001), and Charles Wright (1811-1885), as well as field notes that document a series of botanical expeditions to the Gaspe Peninsula from 1904 through 1923. The Miscellaneous Plant Lists Collection documents the handwritten collection ledgers of the Gray Herbarium from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries. Noted collections include those of August Fendler, Charles Christopher Parry, Benjamin L. Robinson, Robert Allen Rolfe, and Sebastián Vidal y Soler. The number of collectors and lists in each volume ranges from one to as many as seventeen, and comprise 102 lists organized by collector, location, dates, and species. This project was generously funded by the Mellon Foundation in 2014. **Biodiversity Heritage Library Field Notes Project** Archival materials can often be spread across a number of collections and institutions. This project provides open access to field notes from institutions across the United States, and reunites fragmented collections through institutional collaboration. The Botany Libraries digitized over 59,500 pages of material in 577 files from noted collectors such as Henry Nicholas Bolander, Carol William Dodge, Merritt Lyndon Fernald, Edward Palmer, Roland Thaxter, and William Gilson Farlow. This project was generously funded by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). **FINDING FIELD NOTES AND PLANT LIST MATERIALS** - HOLLIS: [Global Plants Initiative Field Notes Collections](https://hollis.harvard.edu/primo-explore/search?query=lsr38,contains,Global%20Plants%20Initiative%20Field%20Notes%20Collections,AND&tab=everything&search_scope=everything&vid=HVD2&mode=advanced&offset=0) - BHL Collection: [Global Plants Initiative Field Notes Collections](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/search?stype=C&searchTerm=%22Global%20Plants%20Initiative%20Field%20Notes%20Collections%22#/titles) - HOLLIS: [Biodiversity Heritage Library Field Notes Project](https://hollis.harvard.edu/primo-explore/search?query=lsr38,exact,Biodiversity%20Heritage%20Library%20Field%20Notes%20Project,AND&tab=everything&search_scope=everything&sortby=rank&vid=HVD2&mode=advanced&offset=0) - BHL Collection (includes content from other institutions): [BHL Field Notes Project](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/browse/collection/FieldNotesProject) ### Seaweed Prints by M.A. Robinson, 1885 expand\_more In the late 19th century, it was fashionable to press and mount seaweed. The book Sea Mosses: A Collector's Guide (1881) by A. B. Hervey outlined how to properly press and mount various types of algae. Place the seaweed in a bowl of salt water to free it from excessive sand and shells. Then the mounting paper is brought underneath the specimen so the specimen is resting on top. The drying and pressing process consists of layering the mounting papers with various types of blotting cloth and additional paper topped with weights. Most seaweed in this case will adhere to the mounting board via gelatinous materials emitted from the plant itself. In the case that the plant does not contain enough material, different types of gummed paper and adhesives are used. **ABOUT THE COLLECTION** It is unknown where Mary Robinson collected her seaweeds but it was likely in the waters near Cottage City (currently Oak Bluffs) on the northeastern coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Robinson lived in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is not coastal, so the collecting was not done there. She later lived in Providence, Rhode Island, which is on the coast, so she may have collected there. Mrs. Constance Neelon of Southern Pines, North Carolina donated the scrapbook to the Farlow Herbarium Archives in August of 2002. Mrs. Neelon's family summered on Martha's Vineyard beginning in 1932 and her husband found the scrapbook around 1950. **FINDING MARY A. ROBINSON SEAWEED ALBUM** - Archival Finding Aid: [Mary A. Robinson seaweed album](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/far00039/catalog) - HOLLIS: [Seaweed album](http://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990145615020203941/catalog) - Historical Web Exhibit: [About the Prints](https://web.archive.org/web/20190302203721/https://botlib.huh.harvard.edu/libraries/Robinson_exhibit/seaweed_about.htm) ### The Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Herbarium expand\_more Henry David Thoreau was a naturalist who collected specimens that included hundreds of New England plants that formed his personal herbarium. Thoreau first encountered botany as student under the tutelage of Phineas Allen at Concord Academy. He continued his studies in natural history at Harvard from 1833-1837 and referred to standard references of the day like Jacob Bigelow’s *Florula bostoniensi*. Thoreau first began using Latin names for plants in his *Journal* in 1842. The arrival of naturalist Louis Agassiz at Harvard in 1846 and the publication of Asa Gray's *Manual of Botany* in 1848 influenced Thoreau's interest in botany. He apparently began collecting herbarium specimens in 1850 and continued to read, increase his field observations, and collect until his herbarium grew to about 900 specimens. Thoreau created his herbarium primarily as a reference collection to identify plants found in the vicinity of Concord and other locations in New England. He identified most of his specimens with Latin names in pencil, but noted the collecting site on only about half of them. **ABOUT THE COLLECTION** Henry David Thoreau bequeathed his herbarium to the Boston Society of Natural History in 1862. The Society donated the collection to the Concord Free Public Library in 1880. It was given by the Library Trustees to the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University in 1959. 646 oversized specimens currently reside in the Archives. Funds to digitize these materials were generously provided the Mellon Foundation as part of the Global Plants Initiative in 2014. **FINDING THOREAU'S SPECIMENS** - Finding Aid - [Herbarium of Henry David Thoreau](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/gra00059/catalog) - [The Botanical Index to the Journal of Henry David Thoreau](https://archive.org/details/botanical-index-to-the-journal-of-henry-david-thoreau) - [Spreadsheet of Henry D. Thoreau Herbarium Specimens](https://archive.org/details/spreadsheet-of-henry-d-thoreau-herbarium-specimens) - [The Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods](https://www.walden.org/Library) - [The Writings of Henry David Thoreau](http://thoreau.library.ucsb.edu/writings_journals.html) - HOLLIS: [Herbarium of Henry David Thoreau](http://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990093103270203941/catalog) ### Carleton Watkins Photographs expand\_more This collection is composed of mammoth albumen photographs of Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove by Carleton Watkins. Carleton Watkins was a distinguished award winning nineteenth century photographer of the American West. Best known for his photographs of Yosemite, San Francisco, the Pacific Coast, Arizona and Nevada, it has been estimated that he produced tens of thousands of photographs of mines, railroads, cities, estates and landscapes during his lifetime. **ABOUT THE COLLECTION** In 1999 the 22 prints in the Watkins Archives were examined and treated by Boston Art Conservation. The objects were photographed both before and after treatment to document condition. The Watkins photographs were placed in a custom cut mat constructed of 4-ply mat board. Corner pockets to hold the photograph in place were designed using a heavy weight, high alpha cellulose paper. The matted photographs were covered with a thin, translucent interleaving paper and placed in custom designed boxes. **FINDING THE CARLETON WATKINS PHOTOGRAPHS** Finding Aid: [Carleton Watkins Mammoth Albumen Photographs of Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/gra00091/catalog) Related Collection: [Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove photographs by C.E. Watkins](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/arn00026/catalog) [Image Credits](/image-credits)