Scope and Contents Material relating to the geology of Mount Vesuvius in Southern Italy and Mount Etna in Sicily as extracted from the letters of Sir Charles Lyell, written during a visit to the area in September and October 1858. He discusses several geological formations in the mountains and occasionally gives sketches to illustrate his points. He also mentions: that he has received a list of shells from the Pliocene clay on which Mount Etna is placed which he hopes will provide a precise paleontological...

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Drawing entitled 'Il Balzo Di Aci' of a town with hills in the background and a river or lake in the foreground. Inscription in Italian reads "Veluto dallo scalo di Signora Maria della Scala a 7 Aprile 1858. Carlo Gemmellaro quest' Atimo suo [ ]sequi, all'eta di anni 71. A Sir Charles Lyell in Catania", (28 Settembre 1858).

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Document written by Sir Charles Lyell at Messina on the Island of Sicily describing his visit there in the autumn of 1857. The bulk of the document is spent describing the way lava flows down both steep and gentle slopes and specifically discusses the lava flow resulting from the 9 month long eruption of 1852/3. In addition he discusses the formation of the Val del Bove, 9 November 1857.

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Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Carlo Gemmellaro replying to earlier letters from Lyell to the Gemmellaro family containing questions relating to the geology of Mount Etna. Gemmellaro diagrees with Lyell that the pressure of subsequent layers of lava depress those beneath, with sketch, and mentions the geographical locations of certain features with respect to the map of Wolfgang Sartorius Von Waltershausen which Gemmellaro feels to be accurate, 21 May 1858.

Scope and Contents Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Carlo Gemmellaro, principally replying to a letter sent to him by Lyell. He mentions the thickness and incline of lava flows of the Balzo of Aci Reale coming down from the side of Mount Etna, with sketch. He answers specific questions that Lyell has put to him in a previous letter regarding details of Gemmellaro's theory, stating that he does not feel himself obliged to accept the opinions of Waltershausen and mentions the discovery of some rocks at a beach...

Scope and Contents Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Carlo Gemmellaro relating to the geology of the Mount Etna area. Gemmellaro states that Lyell is soon to receive a map copied from Waltershausen's marked with the profile of the extension of the 1852 lava. He mentions his brother's [Giuseppe] gratefulness for Lyell's subscription to the English house at Mount Etna and discusses lava flow at the Balyo di Aci Reale, with map. Apologises for being unable to provide Lyell with measurements for this but states...

Scope and Contents Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Carlo Gemmellaro regarding his volcanic research on Mount Etna. Gemmellaro mentions his respect for the topographical works of Baron Waltershausen but states that the only fault he saw in Waltershausen during his stay in Sicily was the Baron's disregard for the learned Sicilian people. Discusses the geology of Aci Reale, in particular the strata of lava on which the village rests; Baron Waltershausen thought there were only 2 layers, Gemmellaro believes he...

Scope and Contents Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Carlo Gemmellaro in answer to a previous letter sent by Lyell. He apologises for not being able to answer Lyell's questions as he has been ill and promises that he will return to Aci to try to detect Wolfgang Sartorius Von Waltershausen's mistakes as to what Mercurio says on the eruption of 1852. He mentions carboniferous soil in Sicily, local units of measurement and lava flow on the island. He also thanks Lyell for sending a printed abstract of the...

Scope and Contents Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Carlo Gemmellaro answering a list of questions that Lyell had evidently posed to him in a previous letter. Topics covered include volcanic strata, inaccuracies in maps of the area around Mount Etna drawn by Wolfgang Sartorius Von Waltershausen, and Lyell's theory that the 2 craters of Mount Etna were contemporary. Gemmellaro disputes this theory as each crater ejected different types of rock, Felspatic and Pyroxenic, with no mixing of the two. Gemmellaro...

Scope and Contents From the Series: This series of correspondence is arranged alphabetically, A-Z, including one ‘Miscellaneous’ section within the 'M' series. Each correspondent has been assigned a file number – there may be several folders within that file, evidencing the longevity and depth of the relationship between Lyell and the correspondent - for example his brother in law Charles Bunbury.Lyell himself, Mary or Arabella Buckley have mostly recorded a summary of the contents of the correspondence, either on the...