Collections

The Lantern slides and glass plate negatives collection consists of approximately 1,260 magic lantern slides, glass plate negatives, and glass plate transparencies from commercial and non-commercial sources documenting a wide range of subjects.

The Lantern slides and glass plate negatives collection consists of approximately 1,260 magic lantern slides, glass plate negatives, and glass plate transparencies from commercial and non-commercial sources documenting a wide range of subjects.

The collection contains a total of 33 boxes and is loosely organized by topical groupings. The following list references individual boxes and the general nature of their contents.

• 10 x 12.5 cm glass negatives of views of Ann Arbor, Michigan, ca. early 1900s taken by an unidentified photographer. Includes views of several University of Michigan buildings, hospitals, fraternity houses, and private residences.

• Sixteen 8 x 10 cm cardboard-mounted slides showing posters for upcoming films and local product advertisements intended for use in movie theater intermissions. Producers include Excelsior Illustrating Co., Inc. and Photo Repro Co., Inc. Identified films include High Steppers (1926); The Blind Goddess (1926); Without Mercy (1926); Chickie (1925); Stop, Look and Listen (1926); West Point (1927); Pals First (1926); Ella Cinders (1926); Paying the Price (1927); The Avalanche (1919); and Turn to the Right (1922).
• Ten 7.5 x 7.5 cm slides documenting damage caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (two of the slides are broken).

• 10 x 12.5 cm glass negatives including scenic views of fields, woods and towns, Canterbury Cathedral, ships in harbor, New York City streets, Coney Island beaches, street merchants, and children interacting with dogs (often humorously). All or some the images were produced by photographer William S. Pearsall in 1906 or earlier.

• Twenty-two 8 x 10 cm cardboard-mounted slides (some damaged) showing motion picture posters intended for display during movie theater intermissions with play dates handwritten in space at bottom. Dates listed range from 1918 to 1929. Identified films include The Devils Circus (1926); The Love of Sunya (1927); The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929); Mademoiselle Modiste (1926); Classified (1925); Chang (1927); The Demi-Bride (1927); The Swell-Head (1927); Steele of the Royal Mounted (1925); The Voice of the City (1929); His Supreme Moment (1925); Monte Carlo (1926); An Old Fashioned Boy (1920); Lovers in Quarantine (1925); Riders of the Dawn (1920); Paid Back (1922); The Breaking Point (1921); and Gypsy Blood (also named Carmen - 1918 in Germany, 1921 in U.S.A.)
• Seven 8 x 10 cm hand-colored slides showing scenes from the popular book The Bad Boy and His Pa by George W. Peck produced by the Chicago Projecting Co. in 1904. Tableaux are carefully staged and elaborately tinted.

• Includes 8 x 10 cm slides showing scenes from The Bad Boy and His Pa by the Chicago Projecting Co. Other identified films include Babe Comes Home (1927); Figures Don't Lie (1927); and The Danger Girl (1916).

• Twenty-six 8 x 10 cm cardboard-mounted movie theater slides related to coming attractions or local products. One item of particular note includes a notice to female patrons that they do not need to remove their hats if they are seated in the women’s section. Identified films include The Taxi Dancer (1927); Square Crooks (1928); The City Gone Wild (1927); Too Much Money (1926); The First Night (1927); Broadway Nights (1927); Rainbow Riley (1926); The Wizard (1927); Vamping Venus (1928); The People vs. Nancy Preston (1925); Lovely Mary (1926); Rookies (1927); The Swan (1925); The Cohens and Kellys (1926); His People (1925); and My Official Wife (1926).

• Twenty-three 8 x 10 cm cardboard-mounted movie theater slides related to coming attractions or local products. Identified films include The Phantom Police (1926); The Testing Block (1920); The Brute Master (1920); The Cowboy Ace (1921); The Song and Dance Man (1926); His Brother's Keeper (1921); Private Izzy Murphy (1926); The Wanderer (1925); Eve's Leaves (1926); Good and Naughty (1926); It's The Old Army Game (1926); Vanishing Trails (serial, 1920); Don't Shoot (1922); The Whirlwhind of Youth (1927); The Shield of Honor (1927); Across to Singapore (1928); Naughty But Nice (1927); The Barrier (1926); For The Love of Mike (1927); The Dark Angel (1925); Keeping Up With Lizzie (1921); and Top O' The Morning (1922).
• Seven 8 x 10 cm slides (mostly duplicates) related to the Yale “Pageant of America” series showing damage in the aftermath of World War I.
• One 8 x 10 cm slide showing an ancient Egyptian tablet depicting battle.

• Twenty 8 x 10 cm slides documenting various activities in the town of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, around the turn of the 20th-century, including a hot-air balloon excursion and a fire engine race, along with other local scenes.
• Thirty-nine 8 x 10 cm slides showing scenic views (some hand-colored) in New Jersey and New York between 1896 and 1907. Most are attributed to Dr. J. T. Morehouse, but other noted contributors include the Charles Beseler Co., Dr. Ferdinand G. Kneer, William Archibald, and George W. Lamoreux. Items of particular interest include an aerial view of lower Manhattan; a map of New Jersey showing holdings of Esso; and a hand-colored view of a high railroad bridge in Portage, New York.

• Twenty 8 x 10 cm slides by Ann Arbor photographer George R. Swain documenting select manuscripts and maps from the William L. Clements Library.
• One 10 x 12.5 cm glass negative view of the Clements Library exterior.
• Seven 8 x 10 cm slides of outdoor scenes in Alaska and California from around 1900.
• Two 8 x 10 cm copy negatives of elaborate unidentified interiors.

• Six 8 x 10 cm slides of scenes in California and British Columbia. Includes view of a redwood logging train.
• Ten 8 x 10 cm glass negatives of scenes in British Columbia, mountain views, and photos of maps.
• Four 8 x 10 cm slides by Ann Arbor photographer George R. Swain of items from the William L. Clements Library.
• Nine 8 x 10 cm slides showing people and places (notably Firle Place) in the United Kingdom during the 1920s.

• Six 8 x 10 cm slides by Ann Arbor photographer George R. Swain showing exterior and interior views of the William L. Clements Library in the 1940s.
• Twenty-four 8 x 10 cm slides by Ann Arbor photographer George R. Swain of items from the William L. Clements Library. Includes an image of materials from the Thomas Gage papers stored in one their original document chests.

• Five 8 x 10 cm slides showing unidentified locations (possibly in Alaska) produced by the Seattle, Washington studio of Asahel Curtis.
• Four 8 x 10 cm slide reproductions of paintings.
• Three 8 x 10 cm slides of miscellaneous content.

• 8 x 10 cm glass negatives documenting a 1728 French translation of an earlier memoir by Jerome Lobo regarding attempts to convert Ethiopians to Christianity. An enclosed note says slides were for “a Prestor [sic] John talk.”

• 8 x 10 cm slides from an extensive educational series on lumbering processes and techniques produced ca. 1910. Images detail the production of railroad ties, including loggers’ methods of shaping each piece with their axes, and the proper method of stacking ties. Most of these views appear to be from Michigan’s lower peninsula, but one slide is from Wyoming in 1910.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing various stages in logging operations and mill processes in states from Maine to California. Includes one hand-colored view of a mill pond in Virginia and a map of the U.S. that renders the size of each state relative to its timber resources.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing production stages for treenails and stulls. Also includes images of various types of mill saws in marketing photos as well as working mills.

• 8 x 10 cm slides primarily related to pulp production with views showing logging sites, stages of the milling process, and specific machinery used. Includes images showing both ox-drawn and wooden-wheeled logging wagons.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing portable mills set up near logging sites and log flumes in various stages of construction and operation. Several images of elaborate flume constructions are present.

• 8 x 10 cm slides related to fir logging, possibly in Sitka, Alaska. Also present are a couple views showing treenail production.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing locust logging, log loaders, and lumber yards.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing different types of log loaders as well as maps of the U.S. highlighting population and timber resources.

• 8 x 10 cm slides related to the Lidgerwood (written as “Ledgerwood” on slide labels) logging system which made extensive use of winches and pulleys. The Lidgerwood Company was instrumental in building the Panama Canal and later developed machinery for the logging industry. Also present are more images of log loaders and diagrams/photos of mill machinery.

• 8 x 10 cm slides related to the Lidgerwood system as well as views of logging and mill operations in several states.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing pull boats towing log rafts and various logging and milling operations.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing finished lumber products being shipped by boat, rail, and wagon as well as images related to shingle production.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing steps in the production of shingles, stulls, and poles as well as steps in paper production, including micro views of linen and cotton paper fibers.

• Twenty-eight 8 x 10 cm slides showing stages in paper production as well as views of portable mills and flumes, especially flume dumps.
• Ten 10 x 12.5 cm glass negatives by unidentified photographer ca. 1902 related to estate in Berlin, Maryland nicknamed “Anchuha.” Includes snapshots of house and family members.

• Despite the separate accession number, these lumbering slides appear to be from the same educational series contained in other boxes. The topics covered by the 8 x 10 cm slides in this box include agricultural use of logged spaces, large mill operations, redwood logging, steam tractors, splash dams and charcoal kilns.

• 8 x 10 cm slides covering log jams, barrel staves and cooperage, flumes, big tree logging, and maps of national forests. Non-Michigan locations also represented. Includes color slide by Asahel Curtis showing Douglas fir timbers on railroad car.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing pole roads, agricultural use of logged land, large mills, machinery used in distillation and cooperage, logging of wide range of individual tree species. Non-Michigan locations also represented.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing tramways, pull boats, portable mills, geared locomotives, and skidways as well as a graph comparing regional production. Nine shattered slides are present.

• 8 x 10 cm slides showing gasoline and steam skidders, lumber yards, motor trucks, and Arizona tree species. One image of particular interest shows an early Kelly truck with a full load of logs and an African American driver.

• Eight 8 x 10 cm glass negative copies of photos showing scenes in Alaska, including the Muir Glacier.
• Four 8 x 10 cm slide views of British Columbia, possibly from a Canadian Pacific Railroad car.
• Three 12.5 x 18 cm glass negative self-portraits by Charles P. Steinmetz, ca. 1904/5.
• One 12.5 x 18 cm glass negative titled “Girl on Bicycle”

The Latin America and Caribbean travel photograph album (17.25 x 21 cm) contains 36 captioned views of Jamaica, Panama, Peru, and Chile taken by an unidentified photographer. The majority of the photographs are of landscapes but local people are also depicted.

The Latin America and Caribbean travel photograph album (17.25 x 21 cm) contains 36 captioned views of Jamaica, Panama, Peru, and Chile taken by an unidentified photographer. The majority of the photographs are of landscapes but local people are also depicted. A photograph of the S.S. Limari is present in the album. Of note are a series of photographs documenting a trip on the Peruvian Central Railway, including a view of Infiernillo Bridge.

The Leonidas, Michigan photograph album (14.5 x 17.75 cm) contains fifteen snapshot views of Leonidas, a settlement in St. Joseph County, Michigan. The photographs focus on streets, buildings, and roads.

The Leonidas, Michigan photograph album (14.5 x 17.75 cm) contains fifteen snapshot views of Leonidas, a settlement in St. Joseph County, Michigan. The photographs show views of streets, a train depot and train, a paint shop, a cemetery, residences, and a group of four individuals in a carriage drawn by two horses.

The collection consists of letters and essays submitted to the editor of the United Service Journal for publication, principally regarding British naval and military matters.

The collection consists of letters and essays submitted to the editor of the United Service Journal for publication, principally regarding British naval and military matters. Topics range from naval architecture, technology, and weaponry, to histories of naval and specific military engagements and defenses of individual persons. The letters also regard such matters as the recovery of the HMS Thetis off the Brazilian coast, charities and education efforts, discipline, piracy, officer promotions, and military mortality in Canada. Several letters reference disagreements over articles published in the United Service Journal.

This volume contains medical essays composed at the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia in 1849 and 1850, as well as drafts of letters composed in 1878 and 1879. Essay topics include examinations of specific cases, information on various ailments, notes on surgical operations, and descriptions of medicines.

This volume (162 pages) contains medical essays composed at the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia in 1849 and 1850, as well as drafts of letters composed in 1878 and 1879. The first 99 pages consist of medical notes and essays written during Carson's final year studying medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, including reports on medical cases, information on ailments and medicines, and notes concerning surgical operations. Essays on ailments and medicines (pages 100-159) focus on symptoms and relief, and include several based on particular types of medicines, such as diuretics and expectorants. Other essays examine the effects of the medicines on the body. The volume also contains medicinal recipes (pp. 160-161). Several doctors are mentioned, including H. S. Patterson, Joseph Carson, G[eorge] B. Wood, and Henry H. Smith. The medical content dates from March 15, 1849, to January 1850, and covers most of the volume's odd-numbered pages, with additional content appearing on some even-numbered pages, including several rough sketches of generic human figures that appear on the inside of both covers and throughout the book, and a series of indexes of miscellaneous words. Some additional items are signatures for residents of several towns in New York, a poem entitled "Buccaneer Bride" (p. 42), recipes for breakfast rolls and doughnuts (pp. 46, 48), household accounts for decorative items, and drafts of letters. Of the letters, one is signed by Grace Burton of Millport, New York. Addie A. McCurdy, also of Millport, New York, occasionally signed her name on some of the even-numbered pages.

This collection is made up of typescripts and copies related to Lewis C. Mead's service in the 22nd Michigan Infantry Regiment, Company I, during the Civil War, including his time as a prisoner of war. He wrote letters home while serving in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia, and during his imprisonment in Libby Prison and other Confederate prisoner-of-war camps.

This volume (177 pages) contains typescripts and copies related to Lewis C. Mead's service in the 22nd Michigan Infantry Regiment, Company I, during the Civil War. The collection includes an introduction by Mead's youngest daughter.

Pages 1-148 largely consist of letters that Mead wrote to his parents and sister during his military service. He described camp life, marches, and scenery in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia (particularly in and around Lexington, where the regiment was stationed for much of the winter of 1862-1863). He mentioned Lexington's African American population, his African-American servant in Nashville (shared with his tent mates), promotions and officer elections within his company and regiment, executions of deserters, and a skirmish with Confederate forces. From October 1863 to November 1864, he wrote from Libby Prison and other Confederate prisoner-of-war camps. Mead discussed his health and his possible release or exchange. By the time he resumed his correspondence in March 1865, he had returned to the regiment. He remained with the unit until at least May 1865.

A small number of letters by other writers include an early order by J. W. Trueman authorizing Mead to raise a company for a regiment of lancers (October 3, 1861) and several written to the Mead family during the war. E. S. Woodman, an acquaintance, and other soldiers provided news about Lewis C. Mead's capture and imprisonment in October 1864. Postwar correspondence includes family letters and a letter from H. S. Dean to Lewis C. Mead regarding a visit to the Chickamauga battlefield by Michigan veterans (October 25, 1893).

The letters are followed by Mead's ca. 1886 reminiscences of his Civil War service, including his experiences during the Battle of Chickamauga and his subsequent imprisonment (pp. 149-164); a speech by Mead about the 22nd Michigan Infantry Regiment's Civil War service (pp. 165-172); and additional reminiscences written after a 50th anniversary visit to the Chickamauga battlefield, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and other locations related to Mead's wartime experiences (pp. 173-177).

The volume contains a photocopy of a newspaper obituary for Lewis C. Mead, published in The Daily Press. Photocopied photographs include Lewis C. Mead around the time of his enlistment and as an older adult; "Johnny Clem," a 12-year-old soldier who was embedded with Mead's regiment (pictured in uniform holding a gun); James Arthur Gallery wearing Mead's dress uniform; and Owen Carlisle Frost in a World War I-era army uniform.

A typescript copy of a letter by William Hayden Smith regarding his experiences with the 1st Michigan Infantry Regiment around the time of Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox is pasted into the volume's back cover (April 9, 1865).

The Liberty Bell Tour photograph album contains approximately 580 photographs depicting the journey of the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California, and back again in 1915.

The Liberty Bell Tour photograph album contains approximately 580 photographs depicting the journey of the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California, and back again in 1915.

The album (40 x 28 cm) has black paper covers and 305 pages, 14 of which do not contain any photographs. The photographs are generally arranged in chronological sequence and depict loading the Liberty Bell onto parade floats and train cars, celebratory parades, gathered crowds, and individuals and groups posing with the Liberty Bell. Numerous pictures include captions referencing the locations in which they were taken. The album also contains two small maps, each showing one of the routes of the cross-county trips that the Liberty Bell took, as well as landscape photographs of scenes in the western United States. Notable persons photographed with the Liberty Bell include Thomas Edison, members of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and groups of Native Americans in Cayuse, Oregon. Landscapes pictured include views of Wyoming, Pulpit Rock, Bear River Canyon, Mount Shasta, Shasta Springs, Horseshoe Curve, Royal Gorge, the Rockies, Salt Lake, and Feather River Canyon.

This collection consists of 8 affidavits recorded in Lincoln County, Kentucky, in 1808. The statements, all provided by slaves, concern events leading up to the stabbing of a slave named Moses in May 1808.

This collection consists of 8 affidavits (16 pages) recorded in Lincoln County, Kentucky, in 1808. The statements, provided by slaves named Ben, Peter, Caleb, Martin, Frank, David, Lew, and Jim, concern events leading up to the stabbing of a slave named Moses in May 1808. According to their testimony, Ben and Lew had a financial dispute after a card game, which later led to an altercation between a slave named Surry, who was a relative of Ben, and Moses, who was acquainted with Lew. The slaves who were involved in and who witnessed the incident belonged to several different masters. The affidavits provide detailed information about the men's activities before and during the fight between Surry and Moses.

Additional research about the collection and the context of Surry's murder trial is available in the Manuscripts Division.

The Lippincott family carte-de-visite albums contain formal carte-de-visite portraits of members of the Lippincott, Thorne, and Taylor families of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, many in the traditional dress of Quakers. Two photographs show men in military uniform.

The two Lippincott family carte-de-visite albums (both 14cm x 11cm) contain portraits of members of the Lippincott, Thorne, and Taylor families of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Volume 1 has 18 cartes-de-visite and 1 tintype, and Volume 2 has 24 cartes-de-visite and 1 lithographic card. Most photographs are formal studio portraits taken by Philadelphia photographers of men, women, children and elderly women. Many are in the traditional dress of Quakers. Civil War soldiers Joshua and Powell Thorne appear in military uniforms. Several photos have revenue tax stamps. A portrait of activist Lucretia Mott by H.C. Phillips is included. Each of the volumes has a brown leather cover decorated with geometric designs. Both albums had two metal clasps; the first is missing one of two clasps and the second has both clasps intact.

This collection is comprised of five volumes of copied passages from magazines, newspapers, speeches, and other literary sources, on subjects such as religion, history, philosophy, economics, science, and fiction. Also included is a handwritten essay on "Physical and Moral Courage," and a Wilmington, Delaware, bond related to the estate of Edwin A. Wilson, April 1, 1859.

This collection is comprised of five volumes of copied passages from magazines, newspapers, speeches, and other literary sources, on subjects such as religion, history, philosophy, economics, science, and fiction. Also included is a handwritten essay on "Physical and Moral Courage," and a Wilmington, Delaware, bond related to the estate of Edwin A. Wilson, April 1, 1859.

The creator of these commonplace books, writing in a dense, consistent hand, recorded passages from a wide range of authors that include Plato, Aristotle, Tertullian, Geoffrey Chaucer, Martin Luther, Nathanial Hawthorne, Charles Dickens, Baden Powell, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and others. Publication notices and excerpts of literary reviews are frequently noted. Passages often include references to the author or the publication source. Latin, Greek, and Hebrew words or lines periodically appear as well.

Included in the collection is a handwritten essay, titled, "Physical and Moral Courage", exploring these ideas within the framework of Ancient Spartan society, as well as their relationship to the legacy of Julius Caesar. A partially-printed bond dated April 1, 1859, from Joseph C. Seed to David Craig and William Tatnall in Wilmington, Delaware, pertains to the estate of Edwin A. Wilson.

• The Atlantic Monthly
• The British Quarterly Review
• The Christian Examiner
• Debow's Review
• The London Lancet: A Journal of British and Foreign Medical and Chemical Science, Criticism, Literature, and News
• The London Quarterly Review
• The National Review
• The New York Tribune
• The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, and Science
• The Spectator
• The Weekly Caucasian
• The Westminster Review