Hunt Institute specializes in the history of botany and all aspects of plant science and serves the international scientific community through research and documentation. To this end, the Institute acquires and maintains authoritative collections of books, plant images, manuscripts, portraits and data files, and provides publications and other modes of information service. The Institute meets the reference needs of botanists, biologists, historians, conservationists, librarians, bibliographers and the public at large, especially those concerned with any aspect of the North American flora. Learn more
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General Autograph Collection (GAC)
It began with Rachel Hunt's autograph letter collection of 410 letters from 176 botanists and other naturalists, and over several decades Hunt Institute curators added additional materials. The General Autograph Collection now contains over 1,700 handwritten letters from mostly American and European botanists. The dates of the letters range from the 17th to the 20th century. One expected use for these items is as a sampling of the handwriting of botanists, which is particularly useful in determining the identity of individuals who have written notes on herbarium sheets. Perhaps equally important is the historical content with which these are incredibly rich.
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The glass lantern slide collection and accompanying lecture by Mrs. Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt
This collection consists of 168 hand-colored glass lantern slides and the typed copy of the lecture written by Rachel Hunt describing the slides' contents. The slides depict gardens and are labelled with owners and often locations.
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William Winfield Ray collection of 20th-century botanists’ correspondence and other materials
This collection is an arrangement of approximately 900 letters, postcards and other materials relating to botanists and naturalists throughout the 20th century. The material was received by the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation on 18 January 1968 from Professor William Winfield Ray (1909–1995).
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