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Brown University Library Collections

History of Science, Mathematics, Technology Collections

Euclid (ca. 326-ca. 265 BC). Preclarissimus liber elementorum Euclidis perspicacissimi: in artem geometrie incipit ...Venice: Erhard Ratdolt, [25 May] 1482.

American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society collection is made up of material pertaining to the activities of the Rhode Island local section of the American Chemical Society, including correspondence, by-laws, minutes, financial statements and records, lectures, events, newsletters, membership lists, reports and historical documents. ...more information
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society records include minutes of the Board of Trustees, the Council, the Executive Committee, and the Agenda and Budget Committee; correspondence of the Council; correspondence and other records of the Secretary of the Society and the Mid-West Secretary; records of the treasurer; photographs and other materials collected for the Society's centennial celebration; and minutes of Mathematical Association of America and other non-AMS meetings. In addition to issues of policy concerning mathematics and mathematicians, subjects include the Society's administration, finances, publications, and meetings. ...more information
Audubon's Birds of America

The double elephant folio edition of Audubon's The Birds of America was published between 1827 and 1838. Subscribers received 87 parts of 5 prints each (one large, one medium and three small prints). The series contains 435 hand colored plates of 1065 birds. "Double elephant" refers to the size of the sheet of paper, which is the largest size that can be made by hand. Each sheet measures more than two by three feet.

There were 308 original subscribers, who paid approximately 00 for a complete set. While there were 308 original subscribers, only 161 subscribers purchased all parts. It is not possible to locate all of the complete sets. Some have been broken up and sold as individual images.

Albert E. Lownes, Class of 1920, presented his copy (bound in six volumes) to the University on the occasion of his 50th Class Reunion in 1970. Mr. Lownes received his copy as a wedding gift.

In addition, to the Double Elephant Folio edition, the library owns several uncolored proofs and an original printing plate, as well as other published editions of Audubon's work. ...more information
Bailey (William Whitman)
These papers of William Whitman Bailey (1843-1914), Brown University professor of botany, consist of correspondence, diaries (20 vols), manuscripts, addresses, poems, drawings, paintings, sketches, notebooks, and scrapbooks dating from 1856 to 1914, that document the professional activities and family life of botanist William Whitman Bailey. In his letters, Bailey wrote about his reading and other literary pursuits; his publications; plants and botany; professional activities at Brown University; West Point; and excursions in New England, including Mt. Wachusett; Conway; and Cumberland, R.I.

Botanical specimens that Bailey found are described in some letters. Some early letters were written while he was a schoolboy at the University Grammar School in Providence. Botany is documented in the Manuscripts series through lecture notes, essays on flowers, sketches of specimens, and plant analysis. Other topics covered in the Manuscripts series include Bailey's private library, reading, and reminiscences of West Point. The Manuscripts series includes addresses, essays, notebooks, and scrapbooks. Poems written by Bailey are in the Letters by William Whitman Bailey series and in the Manuscripts series. The Botanical Sketches series (ca. 5 linear ft.) includes botanical sketches, drawings, and paintings that appear to have been created in various combinations of pen and colored ink, pen and watercolor, and pencil and colored pencil. ...more information
Banchoff (Thomas) Materials relating to Edwin Abbott Abbott
The collection is comprised primarily of photographs of Edwin Abbott Abbott, his family and associates as well as correspondence between them. It also includes some newspaper clippings and one notebook belonging to Edwin Abbott Abbott. ...more information
Brown (Harcourt)
Papers of Harcourt Brown (1900-1990), professor of French at Brown University from 1937-1969. Includes materials from his years at Brown, correspondence, french play materials, and Annals of Science materials ...more information
Brown University Dept. of Mathematics Meeting Minutes
This collection consists of minutes of meetings held by the Brown University Department of Mathematics during the years 1915-1922 and 1930-1939. The minutes include discussions regarding the department's policies and rules as well as information related to student affairs, curriculum development, faculty appointments, fellowships, examinations, the Mathematics Club and the honor list. ...more information
Brown University Herbarium
Collection of pamphlets, some annotated by Herbarium staff, compiled over the course of nine decades by the now defunct Brown University Herbarium, founded in 1877 by William Whitman Bailey, Prof. of Botany. ...more information
Chapin (Charles V.)
Charles V. Chapin, Class of 1876, was instructor in physiology at Brown from 1882 to 1886 and professor from 1886 to 1895. He held the post of superintendent of health in Providence for forty-eight years. The collection consists of correspondence chiefly with workers in public health in America, Europe, and Australia about Dr. Chapin's work in communicable diseases. ...more information
Corliss (George H.)
The George H. Corliss collection consists of correspondence, business records, scrapbooks, awards, medals, and photographs relating to the life and activities of a leading nineteenth century inventor, engineer, and businessman. These papers are an important source of information concerning Corliss's early years as a merchant and his life-long involvement with a variety of mechanical inventions. Primarily, however, the materials serve as a valuable collection of business records, which reveal the growth and operations of the Corliss Steam Engine Company of Providence, Rhode Island. ...more information
Corthell (Elmer L.)
Elmer L Corthell, Hon., 1867, presented his extensive collection of books, drawings and pamphlets on river and harbor engineering to the University in 1911. Corthell, a prominent civil engineer, had gathered these materials during a successful career spanning more than 40 years. Corthell's collection, plus 6,000 more books donated later along with an endowment, was the genesis of the Corthell Engineering Library. Most of the books were later incorporated into the general collections of the Sciences Library. The original gift and the Corthell Papers are part of special collections. The Papers are primarily professional papers, correspondence, and blueprints and maps of his engineering projects, and include notes and lists describing his library and resumes tracing his career. ...more information
Davenport
The Davenport Collection, an endowed gift from Dr. James Henry Davenport, containing "books on medical history, medical biography and extra-curricular writings of physicians." It is these extra-curricular writings that give the collection its eclectic flavor. Included are books by physician authors in the fields of history, biography, travel narratives,fiction, poetry and drama, as well as many other works from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (London, 1892) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Oliver Wendell Holmes's The Poet at the Breakfast-Table(Boston,1872). Part of the Rhode Island Medical Society Collection. ...more information
Drowne Family
In 1940, the personal library of botanist and physician Dr. Solomon Drowne, Class of 1773, plus over 1,000 documents and letters relating to members of the Drowne family (1770 through 1940) were moved from Mt. Hygeia, Dr. Drowne's home in Foster, Rhode Island, to Brown. This fine example of an 18th century American private library is preserved intact within Special Collections. ...more information
Dupee Fireworks
Through the generosity of Paul Dupee, the library acquired the premier collection of books and manuscripts devoted to the history of recreational fireworks. The collection was assembled by Chris A. Philip, one of Great Britain's foremost pyrotechnists and author of the standard reference work on the subject -- A Bibliography of Firework Books (Winchester, 1985).John Babington's Pyrotechnia, or a discourse of Artificiall Fire-works: In which the true Grounds of that Art are plainly and perspiciously laid downe (London, 1635) was chosen from among the wealth of material in the Dupee Collection to be the Brown University Library's ceremonial Three Millionth Volume. ...more information
Dupree (Anderson Hunter) papers
Distinguished American historian A. Hunter Dupree (born January 29, 1921, in Hillsboro, Texas) pioneered the history of science and technology in the U.S. After graduating summa cum laude from Oberlin College (1942) and serving in the Navy during WWII, he earned his Master's (1947) and Ph.D. (1952) from Harvard. Dupree held early academic positions at Texas Tech and Harvard before joining the University of California, Berkeley (1956-1968), where he became a professor and held administrative roles. From 1968 until his 1981 retirement, he was the George L. Littlefield Professor of History at Brown University, also serving as a consultant for government and historical organizations. ...more information
Fausto-Sterling (Anne)
This collection consists of the professional papers of Anne Fausto-Sterling, Brown University Professor Emerita of Biology and Gender Studies and scholar of the biology of gender development and gender differences. The collection documents Fausto-Sterling’s academic career, research, and writings, and includes correspondence, teaching materials, lab notebooks and slides, subject files, and print materials dating from 1961-2020. ...more information
Gerrish (Willard P.)
The Willard P. Gerrish papers include a travel journal, specifications, blueprints and photographs of various telescopes and mounts, along with related technical writings by Gerrish on specific engineering projects, from 1896 to 1920. Household receipts and correspondence comprise a large portion of the collection. Also included are legal documents and correspondence regarding the estate of his father, William H. Gerrish, and high school copy books belonging to his sisters Isabel and Mary. ...more information
Heath (Royal Vale)
Papers include his mathematical drawings and magic squares designed on number patterns. Also printed volumes from his personal library and several museum objects, including three-dimensional mathematical puzzles. ...more information
Hill (Walter Nickerson)
American chemist. Letters and manuscripts; letterpress books; scrapbook; notebooks; documents; pamphlets; photographs; and memorabilia. The bulk of the written material (to, from, and about Hill) dates from 1870 through 1884. It consists of personal letters between Hill and his wife; letters between Hill and leading scientists and ordinance specialists; letters to and from important political, scientific, and military figures regarding Hill's application for appointment of Professor of Mathematics in the Navy; business correspondence; Hill's patents and pamphlets regarding explosives, demagnetization, etc.; newspaper clippings of Hill's death in an explosion. ...more information
History of Science
The History of Science Collections encompass books and manuscripts dating from the late 15th to the mid 20th century. Particular strengths are in the history of mathematics and astronomy.There are editions of classical authors on mathematics and astronomy, sixteenth and seventeenth century astronomical tables, and fifteenth and sixteenth century editions of Latin translations of Arabic astronomical and astrological texts. They provide many of the works fundamental to the study of the exact sciences during the Renaissance.

There are more than 4,000 significant works documenting the sciences in modern times, many of which were printed before 1800, beginning with the works of Galileo, Kepler, Tycho Brahe, Newton, and his followers. There are also early editions of works by Ampere, Francis Bacon, Boyle, Mme Curie, Einstein, Franklin, Helmholtz, von Humboldt, William James, Leibniz, Lyell, Maury, Napier, Pasteur, Priestly, and Vesalius. ...more information
Kiernan, Caitlín
Caitlín Rebekah Kiernan is a science fiction writer and vertebrate paleontologist who has published novels, short stories, comics, and scientific articles. In addition to the books and stories she has published, Kiernan also worked with DC Comics to complete a sixty-issue series of comics called The Dreaming during 1997-2001. She publishes Sirenia Digest which is an online "monthly journal of the weirdly erotic." She also contributes entries most days to her blog which began on November 23, 2001 as "Grey Girl Beast" and then renamed as "Dear Sweet Filthy World" (https://greygirlbeast.livejournal.com/). Between 1996 and 1997, Kiernan was the vocalist and lyricist for a "goth-folk-blues band," called Death's Little Sister based in Athens, Georgia. This collection contains her handwritten journal from childhood and other juvenilia, drafts of comics, edited manuscripts of novels and short stories, correspondence with fiction editors, correspondence with paleontologists, manuscripts and journals of paleontology work, her desktop computer, and collectibles from the band Death's Little Sister. ...more information
Ladd Observatory
Correspondences, articles, scrapbooks, course material, photographs, offprints, newspaper clippings, etc. Includes correspondence, professional papers and photographs of and relating to the research and teaching of Brown University astronomers Winslow Upton (founding director of Ladd Observatory), Charles Hugh Smiley, and Clinton Harvey Currier.

The collection includes a number of historic astronomical instruments, including sextants, octants, and an azimuth.

The Papers of Charles H. Smiley, located in the Brown University Archives, form a closely related collection. ...more information
Lownes (Albert Edgar) on Henry David Thoreau
The Albert E. Lownes Collection on Henry David Thoreau was received in 1967 as a gift from Albert E. Lownes, Class of 1920. It consists of over 1,000 items, and includes books by Thoreau, later editions of his writing, biographical and critical works, and books from his personal library. It contains first editions for each of Thoreau's separately published books and pamphlets as well as a virtually complete selection of his contrib utions to periodicals. Of particular note are a number of annotated volumes from Thoreau's personal library and original manuscript fragments from his Journals, The Maine Woods, and A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.

There are also periodicals, engravings, photographs, a striking original sketch of Thoreau, maps, broadsides, museum objects, and other memorabilia. The Collection includes a number of Thoreau letters, college papers and journal excerpts.

Especially noteworthy is an album entitled "Concordia", a collection of autograph letters, portraits, and original sketches of Concord personalities, compiled by Rev. Moncure Daniel Conway. ...more information
Lownes History of Science
In January of 1979, the Collection of Significant Books in the History of Science arrived as a bequest from Albert E. Lownes. His final gift of over 5,000 volumes plus hundreds of prints and manuscripts spanned the centuries of scientific thought from Ptolemy to Einstein. This was one of the three most important private collections of books of science in America and ranks as one of the most significant single collections ever received by the Brown University Library. Its greatest strength and depth is in natural history although its scope embraces significant works in all scientific fields. Lownes defined significance as being "books that have changed the world or man's way of seeing it. Significance also meant books that I found interesting." The collection contains over three-quarters of those texts recognized by scholars as the "great books" of science published since the middle of the 15th century.

Earlier, on the occasion of his 50th reunion, in 1970, Albert E. Lownes presented Brown University with the double elephant folio edition of John J. Audubon's Birds of America (London, 1827-1838),the most significant work of 19th century ornithology. Lownes also donated the library's one millionth item, a copy of Rene Descartes's early work on physiology, De Homine Figuris et Latinitate Donatus a Florentio Schuyl (Leyden, 1662), in 1954. ...more information
Massey, Walter E.
Walter E. Massey was an associate professor of physics at Brown from 1970-1975. From 1975-1979, he served as a Professor of Physics and College Dean at Brown. The files include office files, committee meeting reports, and research proposals from 1969-1979. Most files are from 1975-1978, in the later period of Massey's career at Brown. ...more information
McHugh, (Jeanne Kerr) papers
The Jeanne McHugh Kerr papers relating to Alexander Lyman Holley consist chiefly of manuscripts and research materials relating to Kerr's biography of Holley. The papers also include several scrapbooks and letter books that belonged to Holley, samples of minerals and stainless steel, microfilm of Holley's papers at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., and personal papers such as a desk diary and address book that belonged to Kerr. The material is dated between 1847 and 1983, with most dated between 1949 and 1980. ...more information
Morse (Carleton D.) Whaling
The Morse Collection of books, manuscripts and periodicals relating to the whaling industry was presented as a memorial to Carleton D. Morse (Brown Class of 1913), by his widow and daughter in 1958. It includes personal narratives and classics of whaling literature, along with correspondence; manuscript logbooks and journals; commercial papers; legal documents; memoranda; reports; personal memoirs; photographs; engravings; clippings and ephemera. Among the commercial papers are invoices and receipts for ships' outfits, merchants' records for repairs, freight, passengers, fuel, and taxes; Charter Party documents; as well as correspondence of a personal nature.

The books have been catalogued individually, and can be identified through JOSIAH. To pull up a title list, do an "author" search for "Morse Whaling." The manuscripts have been arranged and described as a collection, and an EAD finding aid is available. A link to the finding aid is provided below.

(NOTE: Two manuscript collections that arrived with the Morse materials are the papers of Malvina Pinkham Marshall and the Pinkham family and the Papers of Marshall Johnson. These have been arranged and described separately because they had no apparent connection to whaling.)

The Morse Collection, in combination with whaling collections at the Providence Public Library and the New Bedford Whaling Museum, provides an outstanding resource for studying the economic, historic and social influences exercised by whalers on the development of 18th and 19th century New England.

...more information
Occult
The collection deals primarily with alchemy, the interpretation of dreams, mysticism, black magic and the Kabbalah plus visionary testaments and manifestations of all kinds. Includes rare editions of early occult books and numerous chronicles of demonology, secret societies, theosophical orders, and ancient mystery religions. Among the works on sorcery and supernatural events are several on American witchcraft and the Salem trials. The collection reflects Damon's fascination with alchemy, mysticism, symbolism and theosophy. ...more information
Ostrach (Simon)
Simon Ostrach is an internationally known scientist and pioneer in the fields of buoyancy-driven flows and microgravity science. Dr. Ostrach is highly regarded for his work as principal investigator on the Surface-Tension Driven Convection Experiments (STDCE), which were conducted on two NASA Spacelab missions, United States Microgravity Laboratories 1 (June 25-July 9, 1992) and 2 (October 20-November 5, 1995). The STDCE experiments explored thermal convection phenomena of liquids under microgravity conditions. ...more information
Parsons (Usher)
Usher Parsons (1788-1868) was a professor of anatomy and surgery in Brown University's early medical school. Parson's medical experience is legendary in the annals of military surgery as he was the only surgeon at the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813. The collections cintains diaries (1831-1866), surgical notes, travel journals, and account books. ...more information
Pingree (David E.)
The late David E. Pingree chaired the Department of History of Mathematics at Brown, and acquired a scholarly reputation of international renown from his own research into the history of mathematics and the exact sciences. In the course of his research, he compiled a research collection of books, pamphlets and manuscripts (many in photocopy format) in a variety of languages, some exceedingly rare and others found nowhere else in North America. The collection comprises more than 22,000 items, and is a remarkable resource for the study of mathematics in the ancient world. Its special focus on India and the relationship of Eastern mathematics to the development of mathematics and related disciplines in the West makes it of unique and particular importance for the study of the history of science. The majority of the collection is housed at the Rockefeller Library and are available to borrow. The rare titles are housed at the John Hay Library and are available for research in the Special Collections Reading Room by appointment. ...more information
Reitman (Charles)
Charles Reitman, a graduate of the Rhode Island College of Pharmacology, compiled this collection over the course of his long career as a Providence pharmacist and chemist. The 1,500 titles in the collection cover materia medica worldwide, including works on medicinal plants, homeopathic remedies, and formularies for the making of medicines and drugs from the 17th through the 20th centuries. ...more information
Rhode Island Medical Society

Two important groups of rare or unusual materials collected by the Rhode Island Medical Society in its 175 years can be found in Special Collections at the Hay Library.

The first group comprises the contents of the Society's De Jong Rare Book Room plus titles selected from its general collection. Here are medical classics such as Pliny's Historia Naturale (Venice, 1501), Galen's works (Venice, 1525), Avicenna's Liber Canonis (Venice, 1555), Vesalius's De Humani Corporis Fabrica (Amsterdam, 1642) and works by Celsus, Harvey, Boerhaave, Pare, Morgagni and Osler along with other authoritative texts including the ubiquitous Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical (London, 1858) of Henry Gray. The collection includes numerous 18th and 19th century medical tracts published in America from Nicholas Culpeper's Pharmacopoeia Londinensis (Boston, 1720) to the "ether controversy" of the 1850's and beyond. There is also a substantial selection of pamphlets dealing with homeopathy, hydropathy, naturopathy and other less orthodox medical doctrines more frequently practiced in the 19th century.

The second group consists of the Society's own records, and includes a collection of historically significant antique medical instruments, given to the Society by William James Burge, M.D. (1831-1921), a fellow of the Society since 1874, as well as by other members of the Society over the course of many decades.

Supplementing these historical medical materials are two associated literary collections compiled by physicians, the James Henry Davenport collection (comprising books on medical history, medical biography and the extra-curricular writings of physicians), and the personal library of Providence Superintendant of Health Charles Value Chapin (consisting primarily of Greek and Latin classics in English translation).
...more information
Rhode Island Women's Health Collective
This collection contains the records of the Rhode Island Women's Health Collective, a non-profit organization that operated from 1975 to 1999 with the mission of improving the health of women and their families through education, advocacy and mutual support. Topics in the collection include pregnancy and childbirth, birth control, maternal and child health, cancer and cancer screening, and women's mental health. Materials include administrative files, financial records, grant materials, event materials, photographs, research materials, and electronic records on removable carriers dating from 1973-1997. ...more information
Saklad (Meyer)
Compiled by Rhode Island anaesthesiologist Meyer Saklad, this collection consists of more than 300 books and publications which trace the development of surgical anesthesia, focusing on the period from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. The collection does include a smattering of earlier material, including a 1588 edition of Hippocrates. ...more information
Sherman (Stuart C.)
These papers consist of correspondence spanning his career and beginning with his time spent as Librarian at the Providence Public Library, and materials generated while he was Librarian in the John Hay Library, including President�s reports, Albert E. Lownes bibliography and personal library, notes on Lownes� History of Science Collection, and correspondence on Herman Melville (his bibliography and first printings). Also includes papers from the period when Sherman was Vice President of the Rhode Island Historical Society and later Trustee. His interest in whaling is well-represented by the papers, which include related correspondence from around the world, checklist of Whalemen, whaling records from the Island of Madeira, and notes on logbooks. The papers also include some personal material dealing with his resignation from Providence Public Library, as well as speeches and reviews. ...more information
Smith (Augustus William)
Augustus William Smith was a school teacher, university professor (astronomy and mathematics), president of Wesleyan University and professor of Natural Philosophy at the United States Naval Academy. Smith's papers contain extensive correspondence with contemporary astronomers, mathematicians and meteorologists, along with several manuscripts. There is also correspondence between Smith and others concerning affairs of the Methodist-Episcopal Church. ...more information
Smith Magic
The H. Adrian Smith Collection of Conjuring and Magicana, long considered one of the finest private libraries on conjuring and magic, includes 16th century titles on natural magic, alchemy, astrology, religious rites, and witchcraft. Later holdings include sections on conjuring, card tricks and games, magicians as performers, magic periodicals and other works intended for practicing magicians, posters, ephemera, and realia. The Collection is the gift and bequest of the collector, class of 1930, who as an undergraduate put himself through Brown by giving magic performances. ...more information
Snell Mycology

The Snell mycology collection contains more than 500 books, pamphlets and serials from around the world pertaining to various species of mushrooms and funghi. It encompasses materials published between 1640 and 1980, many with detailed color illustrations, in a variety of languages. The collection documents the life's work of Prof. Walter H. Snell, a Brown alumnus and longtime faculty member in Botany, along with that of his second wife, Esther Dick Snell (Pembroke '31). ...more information
Swan Antarctic

Collection of materials, primarily books in English, relating to the exploration of Antarctica. The collection is concentrated on the period from the turn of the 20th century to the early 1960s. It includes more than 200 books, all but a handful in English, on the expeditions of Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen, and others, as well as later exploratory and scientific expeditions and facilities. Also included are a small number of minor manuscripts (uncataloged as of May 2002) as well as 2 boxes of press releases of the National Science Foundation and U.S. Naval Support Force, Antarctica, and Operation Deep Freeze, and 2 boxes of U.S. Navy official Antarctic photographs, and a souvenir photo book that belonged to Swan.

The title list can be viewed by doing a "word" search in BruKnow for "Swan Antarctic"
...more information
Ward (Lester Frank)

Ward, a Brown faculty member recognized today as one of the founders of the field of sociology, bequeathed his library and personal papers to Brown, and they arrived at the John Hay Library in 1914. The 1,200 bound volumes and pamphlets plus approximately 11,000 letters and manuscripts represent Ward's interests in botany, paleobotany, geology, philosophy and sociology. The two main series of Ward's papers, the correspondence and the writings, are available on microfilm. ...more information
Whiting (Kenneth P.)
Kenneth P. Whiting was employed from 1925 to 1926 at Thomas A. Edison Inc. in disc record manufacturing and development and distribution of demonstrating sample records. The Kenneth P. Whiting papers include a series of memoranda from Whiting to Edison himself, with Edison's replies. ...more information

Image Source: Euclid (ca. 326-ca. 265 BC) Preclarissimus liber elementorum Euclidis perspicacissimi: in artem geometrie incipit ... Venice: Erhard Ratdolt, [25 May] 1482. John Hay Library. see catalog record

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