Collection Summary
Asa Gray Papers
1840-1859
1840-1859
MSS84489
Gray, Asa,
1810-1888
75 items
1 container
.2 linear feet
English
Collection material in
English
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress
Washington, D.C.
Botanist and professor
of natural history at Harvard University. Invitation and correspondence of Asa
Gray, his wife, Jane Loring Gray, and others to Elizabeth Carrington Morris and
Margaretta Hare Morris and undated drafts of articles possibly by the
entomologist Thomas Say intended for publication in the
Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873--Correspondence.
Gray, Asa, 1810-1888.
Gray, Jane Loring, 1821-1909--Correspondence.
Haldeman, Samuel Stehman, 1812-1880--Correspondence.
Harris, Thaddeus William, 1795-1856--Correspondence.
Morris, Elizabeth Carrington, 1775-1865--Correspondence.
Morris, Margaretta Hare, 1797-1867--Correspondence.
Say, Thomas, 1787-1834.
Silliman, Benjamin, 1816-1885--Correspondence.
Organizations
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
Harvard University--Faculty.
Subjects
Botany--Study and teaching.
Entomology.
Natural history.
Occupations
Botanists.
Educators.
Provenance
The papers of Asa Gray, botanist and professor of natural history at
Harvard University, were purchased by the Library of Congress in 1999.
Copyright Status
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Asa Gray is
governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Access and Restrictions
The papers of Asa Gray are open to research. Researchers are advised
to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are
stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for
research use.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, Asa Gray Papers, Manuscript Division,
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
Date
Event
1810, Nov. 18
Born, Sauquoit, N.Y.
1825
1826
Attended Fairfield Academy, Clinton, N.Y.
1826
1831
Attended Fairfield Academy College of Physicians and Surgeons
of the Western District of New York, Clinton, N.Y., receiving a medical
degree
1830
Began to collect and exchange plants with John Torrey
1836
Published
Elements of Botany in New York
. New York: G. &
C. Carvill and Co.
1836
1838
Member, U.S. Exploring expedition under command of Charles
Wilkes
1838
1843
Professor of botany, University of Michigan, Detroit,
Mich.
Published with John Torrey
Flora of North America
. New York and London: Wiley
and Putnam. 2 vols.
1842
Appointed professor of natural history, Harvard College,
Cambridge, Mass.
1847
Published
Manual of Botany of the Northern United States
.
Boston: L. Munroe and Co.
1848
Married Jane Lathrop Loring
1858
Published
Botany for Young People and Common Schools
. New
York: Ivison Blakeman, Taylor, and Co.
1873
Retired, Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass., to work on
revisions of his book on North American flora
1876
Published
Darwiana; Essays and Reviews Pertaining to
Darwinism
. New York: D. Appleton and Co.
1888, Jan. 30
Died, Cambridge, Mass.
1893
Posthumous publication of
Letters of Asa Gray
, edited by Jane Loring Gray.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Asa Gray (1810-1888), botanist and professor at Harvard
College from 1842 to 1873, span the years 1840-1859 and consist chiefly of
letters from Gray and his wife, Jane Loring Gray, to botanist Elizabeth
Carrington Morris and her sister, Margaretta Hare Morris, a naturalist. Gray
became an influential botanical taxonomist in America after he introduced a new
system of classification based on biological similarity. Most of the
correspondence between Gray and the Morris sisters is scientific and technical
in nature and concerns botany and the natural sciences. Also included are
letters to the Morrises from other prominent American scientists, including
Louis Agassiz, Samuel Stehman Halderman, Thaddeus William Harris, and Benjamin
Silliman, together with two undated articles possibly by the entomologist
Thomas Say for the
Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia
.
Catalog Record: [https://lccn.loc.gov/mm99084489]
Container List
Container
Contents
1
Farlow, W. G., invitation from Asa
Gray,
undated
undated
1
Ingham, Charles C., letter to
unidentified Morris sister,
1856
1856
1
Morris, Elizabeth Carrington
1
Correspondence from
1
Gray, Asa,
1842-1859
1842-1859
(2
folders)
1
Gray, Jane Loring,
1856-1857
1856-1857
1
Silliman, Benjamin (1816-1885),
1859
1859
1
Morris, Margaretta Hare
1
Correspondence
1
From
1
Agassiz, Louis,
1853, undated
1853, undated
1
Haldeman, Samuel Stehman,
1849, 1854
1849, 1854
1
Harris, Thaddeus William,
1850-1852
1850-1852
1
Silliman, Benjamin
(1816-1885),
1841
1841
1
To Benjamin Hornor Coates,
1841
1841
1
Say, Thomas (1787-1834), two
articles possibly by Say for the
Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia
,
undated
undated