Notebook containing "Views, maps and sketches of my travels in 1832, 1833, 1834,"consisting of pencil drawings, mostly of scenes from the Delaware Valley

Abstract

Contained within this items are two titles: "Views, maps and sketches of my travels in 1832, 1833, 1834" and "comparative Decimals in all the Principal Languages and dialects of the Earth, 1822." The first title is a series of landscape sketches and maps mostly of locations in Pennsylvania and New York, but also other locations. Such locations include, but are not limited to Pottsville, Port Clinton, and Port Carbon in Pennsylvania, Cooperstown, Lansingburg, and Utsayantha Lake in New York, Potamac River (WV near Harper's Ferry), and Ottowa. Also included are sketches of two fish and one eel and illustrations of Chimu blackware pottery. The second title is a table of North American (presumably Native American) languages. It seems Rafinesque's intention was to compare languages or dialects by comparing word lists. This language table is mostly incomplete, but word list comparisons of a few languages were recorded. For example, on the first page of the table there is a list of words in an Eskimo language and in Greenlandic.

Date Range

1822-1834

Start Date

1822

End Date

1834

Access Information

Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu.

Topic

• Landscapes
• Language and languages
• Pottery
• Ichthyology
• Indians--Languages
• Linguistics
• Seneca language
• Chimu pottery

Place

• New York
• West Virginia
• United States
• Ottowa
• Pennsylvania

Form/Genre

• Fieldbook record
• Field notes
• Maps
• Landscapes (representations)
• Illustrations

Accession #

SIA RU007250

Collection name

C. S. (Constantine Samuel) Rafinesque papers, 1815-1834 and undated

Physical Description

1 notebook

Physical Location

Smithsonian Institution Archives

Sublocation

Box 1 Folder 5