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Letters from Redfield, William Charles to Charles Lyell, 28 October 1841 - 28 June 1853

 File — Box: Box 1.11
Identifier: Coll-203/1/222

Scope and Contents

The correspondence from W.C. Redfield to Charles Lyell is mainly concerned with his geological discoveries and the activities of their mutual friends. Specific subjects include: catopterus macrucrus, drift, and William King. Lyell or his team, have summarised the letters, either on the envelope, or on the letter itself - usually in the space allocated to the address. Where there is a summary, it has been transcribed here.

  1. '(2) 'Redfield New Red fishes 1842, (in a larger font) Redfield Ichthyolites'. Includes extract from a letter from W.C. Redfield Esq. on newly discovered Ichthyolites in new red sandstone of New Jersey. This letter has notes on the envelope, in the margins and in-between the lines of the letter, in black or pink ink. Page three has a foldout postscript dated 14 November detailing the additional lectures from the Lyceum of Natural History that Redfield plans to send to Lyell. 28 October 1842.
  2. '(1) 'Redfield July 1845 print of American edition of Travels of S[outh]. E[ast]. U.S.'. In this letter, Redfield is telling Lyell of all the mistakes, particularly the geographic ones, that he made in his book. 31 July 1845
  3. '(5) 'Redfield March 1847 Catopterus macrurus' [sic Dictyopyge]'. Gives notes on the activities of their colleagues: H.D. Rogers, James Hall, Ferdinand Roemer, and others. 29 March 1847
  4. '(4) 'Redfield May 28 1847 Shell in drift Brooklyn N[ew] Y[ork]'. Redfield's theory for why the drift is that there used to be an iceberg, the end of the letter gives updates on their colleagues; Agassiz is sick, Hall and Emmons have new books published. 28 May 1847
  5. '(3) 'Redfield received June 7th 1845 Shells in Brooklyn drift N[ew] Y[ork]'. This letter is about geological formation in Redfield has found in New England. 23 May 1848
  6. ''Redfield (6) vulpes in drift'. This letter is about Redfield's latest discovery of animal matter, specifically a species of Vulpes, in the drift found in New York. 26 July 1849
  7. 'Redfield (8) Triassic fishes Feb[ruar]y 1851 King's monograph [part of the summary has been cut out]. his letter is about a monograph of Permian fossils by William King that Lyell sent to Redfield. 24 February 1851
  8. 'Redfield (7) Richmond V[irgini]a fish genus of- Dec[ember] 1851'. This letter is about Redfield's thoughts on the relationship between fish fossils found in Virginia and New England, as well as the activities their mutual friends.
  9. W.C. Redfield'. This letter is about the economic applications of the geology of the United States. Redfield has expanded on the geology of certain areas in a separate note, dated 29 June 1853. The sections that these notes pertain to are marked on the original letter in light pencil. The notes are numbered on the letter, but alphabetized on the separate note. 28 June 1853

Dates

  • Creation: 28 October 1841 - 28 June 1853

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Full Extent

2 folders (9 letters)

Processing Information

Listed by Andrea Edwards, University of Wyoming, and catalogued by Pamela McIntyre, Strategic Projects Archivist, August 2024.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository

Contact:
Centre for Research Collections
University of Edinburgh Main Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44(0)131 650 8379