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Published Guides to Collections

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The following guides and bibliographies, organized by subject, are available for consultation at the APS Library and are available as well at most research libraries. Links are provided to on-line guides, and when indicated, these have been updated to reflect recent acquisitions.

African American history

Agriculture

  • Andrea J. Tucher, comp.
    Agriculture in America, 1622-1860: Printed Works in the Collections of the American Philosophical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library Company of Philadelphia.
    New York: Garland Publishing, 1984.

American Philosophical Society

  • Murphy D. Smith.
    Oak from an Acorn: A History of the American Philosophical Society Library, 1770-1803.
    Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1976.

American Revolution

  • The Sol Feinstone Collection of the American Revolution: Guide to the Microfilm Edition.
    Philadelphia: Rhistoric Publications, 1969.

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  • Calendar of the Correspondence Relating to the American Revolution of Brigadier-General George Weedon, Hon. Richard Henry Lee, Hon. Arthur Lee, and Major-General Nathanael Greene, in the Library of the American Philosophical Society.
    Philadelphia: APS, 1900.

Anthropology

Astronomy

  • Frederik Nebeker.
    Astronomy and the Geophysical Tradition in the United States in the Nineteenth Century: A Guide to Manuscript Sources in the Library of the American Philosophical Society.
    Library Publication No. 16. Philadelphia: APS, 1991.

Biochemistry

Boas, Franz

  • Guide to the Microfilm Collection of the Professional Papers of Franz Boas.
    2 vols. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1972.

Darwin, Charles

  • Frederick Burkhardt and Sydney Smith, eds.
    A Calendar of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, 1821-1882.
    New York: Garland Publishing, 1985.

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  • P. Thomas Carroll, ed.
    An Annotated Calendar of the Letters of Charles Darwin in the Library of the American Philosophical Society.
    Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1976.

Education

  • Cornelia S. King, comp.
    American Education, 1622-1860: Printed Works in the Collections of the American Philosophical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library Company of Philadelphia.
    New York: Garland Publishing, 1984.

Electricity and magnetism

  • Ellen (Gruenberg) Gartrell.
    Electricity, Magnetism, and Animal Magnetism: A Checklist of Printed Sources, 1600-1850.
    Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, [1975].

Exploration, Scientific

Flexner, Simon

  • Margaret Miller.
    A Guide to Selected Files of the Professional Papers of Simon Flexner at the American Philosophical Society Library.
    Library Publication No. 8. Philadelphia: APS, 1979.

Folklore

  • Beth Carroll-Horrocks.
    Sources for the History of Folklore in the Manuscripts Department of the American Philosophical Society Library.
    1989. Unpublished.

Franklin, Benjamin

  • Leonard W. Labaree et al., eds.
    Papers of Benjamin Franklin.
    New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959- .

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  • Isaac Minis Hays.
    Calendar of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin in the Library of the American Philosophical Society.
    5 vols. Philadelphia: APS, 1908.

General Library catalogues -- Books

  • Catalog of Books in the American Philosophical Society Library.
    28 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Corp., [1970].

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  • Catalogue of the American Philosophical Society Library.
    4 parts. Philadelphia: C. Sherman, Son and Co., 1863-1884.

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  • Catalogue of the Library of the American Philosophical Society.
    Philadelphia: Joseph R.A. Skerrett, 1824.

General Library catalogues -- Manuscripts

The most current guide to the Library's manuscript and archival collections is the Online Guide to Manuscript Collections at the APS, based upon Catlett (below), but expanded to include materials acquired since 1987.

  • J. Stephen Catlett.
    A New Guide to the Collections in the Library of the American Philosophical Society.
    Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 66s. Philadelphia: APS, 1987.

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  • Catalog of Manuscripts in the American Philosophical Society Library.
    10 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Corp., [1970].

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  • Whitfield J. Bell, Jr., and Murphy D. Smith.
    Guide to the Archives and Manuscript Collections of the American Philosophical Society.
    Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 66. Philadelphia: APS, 1966.
    (Superseded by Catlett, A New Guide... and the Online Guide to Manuscript Collections at the APS.)

Genetics and eugenics

Lewis and Clark

  • Gary E. Moulton, ed.
    The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
    Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1983- .

Library periodicals

  • Library Bulletin, 1943-1958.
    Philadelphia: APS, 1944-1958.

Linguistics

  • Beth Carroll-Horrocks.
    Sources for the History of Linguistics in the Manuscripts Department of the American Philosophical Society Library.
    1989. Introduction by Henry Hoenigswald.

Maps

Medicine

  • J. Stephen Catlett, Beth Carroll-Horrocks, and R.S. Cox.
    A Guide to Manuscript Sources in the History of Medicine in the American Philosophical Society Library.
    1999.

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  • Margaret Miller.
    A Guide to Selected Files of the Professional Papers of Simon Flexner at the American Philosophical Society Library.
    Library Publication No. 8. Philadelphia: APS, 1979.

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  • Simeon J. Crowther, and Marion Fawcett.
    Science and Medicine to 1870: Pamphlets in the American Philosophical Society Library.
    Library Publication No. 1. Philadelphia: APS, 1968.

Molecular biology

  • David Bearman, and John T. Edsall, eds.
    Archival Sources for the History of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: A Reference Guide and Report.
    Philadelphia: APS, 1980.

Museum collections and art work

  • Murphy D. Smith.
    A Museum: The History of the Cabinet of Curiosities of the American Philosophical Society.
    Philadelphia: APS, 1996.

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  • Murphy D. Smith.
    Historic American Sketches: A Guide to Sketches in the Manuscript Collection of the Library of the American Philosophical Society.
    Boston: G.K. Hall, 1984.

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  • Robert P. Multhauf.
    A Catalogue of Instruments and Models in the Possession of the American Philosophical Society.
    Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 53. Philadelphia: APS, 1961.

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  • A Catalogue of Portraits and Other Works of Art in the Possession of the American Philosophical Society.
    Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 54. Philadelphia: APS, 1961.

Native Americans

Natural history

Naval history

Paine, Thomas

  • Hildegard Stephans.
    The Thomas Paine Collection of Richard Gimbel in the Library of the American Philosophical Society.
    Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1976.

Peale family

  • Lillian B. Miller, ed.
    The Collected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and His Family: A Guide and Index to the Microfiche Edition.
    Millwood, NY: Kraus Microform, 1980.

Philadelphia

  • Susan E. Klepp.
    "The Swift Progress of Population": A Documentary and Bibliographic Study of Philadelphia's Growth, 1642-1859.
    Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 187. Philadelphia: APS, 1991.

Philanthropy

  • Cornelia S. King, comp.
    American Philanthropy, 1731-1860: Printed Works in the Collections of the American Philosophical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library Company of Philadelphia.
    New York: Garland Publishing, 1983.

Physics

Physiology

Recordings

Social sciences

  • J. Stephen Catlett.
    A Guide to Manuscript Sources on the Social and Behavioral Sciences in the American Philosophical Society Library.
    1985. Unpublished.

Travel accounts