Skip to main content
COLLECTION Identifier: MS Am 2525

Henry Perviance Peers papers for A complete gazetteer of the state of Kentucky

Overview

Papers, originally assembled by Henry Perviance Peers for the publication of his A complete gazetteer of the state of Kentucky, used by Lewis Collins to publish his 1847 Historical sketches of Kentucky ...

Dates

  • Creation: 1842-1846

Extent

.3 linear feet (1 box)

Includes autograph manuscript drafts by Peers of his Gazetteer, print proofs by illustrator Harrison Eastman, a map of Kentucky ca. 1840s, sketches of buildings, clippings concerning the future publication of the book, a title page proof, a folder formerly housing these materials, and an autograph by Peers stating that he wanted Collins to publish this material after his death.

Biographical / Historical

Henry Perviance Peers (1807-1846) of Maysville, Kentucky, was the younger brother of Benjamin O. Peers, president of Transylvania University. H.P. Peers attended Transylvania University, but did not graduate. He assembled materials for, and wrote a draft of, a planned publication A complete gazetteer of the state of Kentucky. Peers did not complete this work before he died in March of 1846. After his death, his brother-in-law, Lewis Collins (1797-1870, newspaper editor and judge of Mason County, Kentucky) used Peers' work as a basis for the county and town information for Collins' 1847 publication, Historical sketches of Kentucky. Collins' history was the first illustrated history of Kentucky and the most complete work to date.

Arrangement

Arranged in alphabetical order by author or title.

Physical Location

b

Immediate Source of Acquisition

46M-306. Gift of Mrs. Henry Waller, 3031 S.E. Lambert St., Portland, 2, Oregon; received: 1947 March 1.

General note

Collection materials are in English.

Processing Information

Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt

Title
Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870, collector. Henry Perviance Peers papers for A complete gazetteer of the state of Kentucky, circa 1842-1846: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01867

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:
Harvard Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2440