Letters of Joseph Pentland (1797-1873), explorer, to Reverend William Buckland (1784-1856), geologist, 1820-1822

The correspondence covers the period 1820-22 when Pentland was working in the laboratory of Georges Cuvier in Paris. It is mainly concerned with the discussion of contemporary scientific discoveries, and the exchange of information. It covers a wide range of natural history subjects.

William Buckland (1784-1856) was a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford (1808-1825) and one of the foremost geologists of his day. Professor of Mineralogy at Oxford from 1813, he was made Reader in Geology in 1819. He was President of the Geological Society twice, in 1824 and 1840. In 1845 he became Dean of Westminster.

Joseph Barclay Pentland (1797-1873) was born in Ireland and educated at Armagh and at Paris, where he worked with Georges Cuvier (1769-1832). Diplomatic postings to South America gave him the opportunity to travel and to make scientific observations. He undertook an important survey of part of the Bolivian Andes.

The letters are listed in chronological order.

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NOTE: Copyright on all Finding Aids belongs to the University of Nottingham.

• In the Reading Room, University of Nottingham Library: Typescript Catalogue, 4 pp. No details of the content of the correspondence is given.
• At the National Register of Archives, London: Typescript Catalogue, 4 pp. No details of the content of the correspondence is given.

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LANGUAGE: English.

The correspondence was acquired by the Library in 1970.