Ewell Sale Stewart Library Books
Written by PA Heritage Staff in the Curator's Choice category and the Winter 2002 issue Topics in this article: Academy of Natural Sciences, Alexander Wilson, Charles Darwin, Charles Willson Peale, Ewell Sale Stewart, Ewell Sale Stewart Library, Henry J. Slack, John James Audubon, L. Lane Clarke, library, Louis Agassiz, Mark Catesby, Meriwether Lewis, Mrs. F. Marshall Ward, Philadelphia, Pierre Joseph Redoute, rare books, U.S. Department of Education, William Bartram, William ClarkEstablished in 1812 “for the encouragement and cultivation of the sciences, and the advancement of useful learning,” the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia is the oldest natural sciences institution in the Western Hemisphere. The Academy’s Ewell Sale Stewart Library, with its extensive collections of books, manuscripts, maps, paintings, and photographs, has been designated a major research library by the U.S. Department of Education. The Ewell Sale Stewart Library is unique for its holdings of rare and historic works in every discipline of the natural sciences, as well as for its manuscripts and archival collections. With two hundred thousand volumes – larger than the libraries of many colleges and universities – the collection is particularly strong in the history of science, evolution, ecology, systematics, marine and freshwater biology, stratigraphy, and comparative biochemistry. The library is named in honor of Ewell Sale Stewart (1924-1987), a library benefactor and active Academy member for many years.
Created at the founding meeting of the Academy in 1812, the library contains books dating to the sixteenth century. Among printed works detailing significant developments in the field of natural history are beautifully illustrated works from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The holdings also include a wealth of expedition literature, including the works of distinguished explorers, such as Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (see “Firm Foundations in Philadelphia: The Lewis and Clark Expedition’s Ties to Philadelphia” by Frank Muhly, Summer 2001), and the published journals of amateur naturalists. Authors and artists represented in the collection include Louis Agassiz, John James Audubon, William Bartram, Mark Catesby, Charles Darwin, Charles Willson Peale, Pierre Joseph Redoute, and Alexander Wilson.
Of both scientific and artistic note are three late nineteenth-century books: Marvels of Pond-Life: A Year’s Recreations Among the Polyps, Infusoria, Rotifers, Water-Bears, and Polyzoa (1871) by Henry J. Slack; The Microscope, Or Descriptions of Various Objects of Especial Interest Beauty (1880) by Mrs. F. Marshall Ward; and Objects For the Microscope, Being a Popular Description of the Most Instructive and Beautiful Subjects for Exhibition (1870) by L. Lane Clarke. The covers of each book are handsomely tooled and gilded.
By the mid-nineteenth century, microscopes had become widely available and were used as a popular form of entertainment in many middle-class households. Unlike earlier, hand-printed volumes that had only been available to a small group of scholars, these books were inexpensively produced and widely distributed. They were published at a time when the Academy’s Microscopical Section was formed and when microscopes made the leap from the scientific laboratory to the parlor, appealing to people of all ages and from all walks of life.
For more information, write: Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103- 1195; telephone (215) 299-1000; or visit the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia website.