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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Am 2171

Charles P. Bowditch papers on cryptography

Overview

Papers on cyrptography assembled by Charles P. Bowditch.

Dates

  • Creation: 1911-1920

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.

Extent

1 linear feet (2 boxes)

Includes correspondence between Bowditch and George Fabyan, typescript transcript translations of books on cryptography by others, Bowditch's notes on cryptography, and other material.

Biographical / Historical

Charles Pickering Bowditch (1842-1921) was the son of Jonathan Ingersoll Bowditch and Lucy O. Nichols, and was the grandson of Nathaniel Bowditch. After earning his degree from Harvard College he served as first and second lieutenant and captain of the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and as captain of the 5th Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry during the Civil War. Bowditch is perhaps best known for his pioneering work as an archeologist, specializing in Maya hieroglyphic writing. In 1910, he published The Numeration, Calendar Systems and Astronomical Knowledge of the Mayas, one of the premier studies of the subject. He was also a major benefactor to the Peabody Museum in Salem, Mass., and served as treasurer of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences from 1905 to 1915 and president from 1917 to 1919. [Source: Mass Historical Society].

Physical Location

b

Immediate Source of Acquisition

45M-606 - 45M-611. Gift of Mrs. Franklin G. Balch, Mrs. Ingersoll Bowditch, and Mrs. Ernest Amory Codman, 99 Moss Road Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts; received: 1946 April 2.

Title
Bowditch, Charles P. (Charles Pickering), 1842-1921. Charles P. Bowditch papers on cryptography, 1911-1920: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01407

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
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