Du Simitière, Pierre Eugène, ca. 1736-1784 Search this
Extent:
10 Volumes ((on 3 microfilm reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Volumes
Place:
United States -- History -- 18th century
Date:
1560-1786
bulk 1721-1786
Scope and Contents:
Papers relating to natural history and Du Simitière's collection of specimens; material collected on the history of the West Indies and Colonial American affairs in New England, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, including the Lancaster Treaty, 1744, and Indian treaties, 1721-1756; letters, 1560-1781; journals, pamphlets and extracts; a broadside of the Du Simitière sale, 1785; drawings and portraits of American legislators and soldiers by Du Simitière; and leaves of a medieval illuminated manuscript.
Biographical / Historical:
Portrait painter, curator and naturalist; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born in Geneva, Switzerland. Came to America in 1765 after spending several years in the West Indies collecting natural history specimens. Elected curator, 1768, of the American Philosophical Society, and set up a natural history museum. He collected Revolutionary War ephemera and literature.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming, 1955, by the Library Company of Philadelphia. In 1785 Du Simitière's effects were sold at auction, resulting in his library being scattered. Most of the manuscripts were purchased by the Library Company of Philadelphia. The Library of Congress later acquired some others. The whereabouts of some material is still uncertain.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Museum curators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Portrait painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Topic:
Natural history -- Catalogs and collections -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Portrait painting -- 18th century -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
