VOL. 5, No. 8
DR. SMITH'S OFFICET O BE PRESERVED
933
DR. SMITH'S OFFICE TO BE PRESERVED AS MUSEUM The priceless collection of chemical memorabilia assembled by the late Dr. Edgar Fahs Smith has been presented to the University by his widow, Mrs. Margie A. Smith, and will he preserved intact in its present setting in the Harrison Chemical Laboratory, i t has been announced a t the University of Pennsylvania. With the acquisition of the collection which will be known as "The Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Collection in Historical Chemistry," the University is making special arrangements to safeguard it, following which i t will continue to be accessible to visitors and students of the history of chemistry, many of whom during Dr. Smith's lifetime had frequent re, course to it for study and reseafch work. Eventually, i t is expected, the University will neate a fund, the interest of which will be devoted to the perpetual maintenance of the collection, and additions will be made to the collection from time to time, if possible, so that it may be an ever-growing asset to the Chemical Department of the .. University. Dr. Smith, who died on May 3rd this year, had served as Emeritus Professor of Chemistry a t the University after resigning the Provostship in 1920. He was a former President of the American Chemical Society and of the American Philosophical Society, had served as a member of the United States Assay Commission; as Trustee of the Carnegie Foundation;' , and as technical advispr to the Disarmament Conference, and was the author of more than 200 scientificpapers as well as numerous books on chemistry. I n 1920 he was awarded the Priestley Medal bestowed by the American Chemical Society for outstanding achievement in the science of chemistry, and he also was the recipient of the Elliot Cresson Medal from the Franklin Institute "for distinguished contributions to electrochemistry," and the Chandler Medal from Columbia University for contributions to historical chemistry. I n addition, France made him an Officer of the Legion of Honor "for distinguished services to chemistry." Dr. Smith became interested in the history of chemistry early in his career and his private collection of chemical memorabilia, which is said by many authorities to be the best of its kind, was compiled during years spent in patient search in all parts of the world for rare items in which he was interested. The collection, as presented to the University, comprises three main divisions. The first contains about 500 autographed letters and manuscripts of eminent chemists of all nationalities; the second is made up of approximately 1000 portrait prints and engravings of prominent chemists from the days of the alchemists to the present, and the third consists of nearly 1000 books on alchemy and chemistry.
934
JOURNAL OF
Two VIEWSo*.
AUGUST. 1928
OFFICE OF THE LATEDR. EDGAR FAHSSMITH AND HISCOLLECTION OF CHEMICAL MEXORABILIA
THE
PART OP
CHEMICAL EDUCATION
VOL.5, NO.8
DR.Smra's OPPICBTO BE MSERVED
935
In addition, there are a number of chemical preparations and a variety of chemical apparatus which Dr. Smith had accumulated during his career as teacher and research worker, and an unusually rare collection of hooks and manuscripts relating to the history of the University of Pennsylvania and the lives of outstanding alumni and members of the faculty. Of Dr. Smith's collection of books on alchemy and chemistry the majority are in their original bindings and many are printed in Latin, German, and old French. The oldest hook included is Geher's "Alchemy" which was printed in Nuremburg in 1545, while probably one of the rarest in the collection is the "Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum," printed in London "at the Angel in Cornhill" in 1652. This work was edited by Elias Ashmole and contaihs a series of old English poems-on alchemy, one of which is by Geoffrey Chaucer. Letters from eminent chemists of all nations from the earliest times down to those of Pasteur and Madame Curie are among the autographed manuscripts found in the collection. Notable among these is one addressed by Joseph Priestley in 1792 to the members of the National ASS&bly of France. In this letter, Priestley accepts the honor which they do to him by making him "a citizen of France," hut declines "nomination to the approaching National Convention." Dr. Smith had long been interested in the life and works of Priestley and in 1926 had deposit$ in the Priestley Museum a t Northumberland, Pa., a collection of Priestleyana which was said to be the largest of its kind and which included Priestley's balance and the original manuscript of "Priestley's Memoirs." In 1898 when Dr. Smith was elected Vice Provost of the University of Pennsylvania he became intensely interested in the early history of-the University and his zeal in collecting material bearing on that subject soon resulted in his accumulation of a variety of rare items, many of which cannot be duplicated elsewhere. As a result, although his collection will be known as one in Historical Chemistry, it will command general interest because of its many autographed letters, rare prints, and historical documents associated with the early history of the country. Many of these items, as well as those in his collection of chemical memorabilia, were presented to Dr. Smith by friends all over the world who were familiar with his zeal for collecting historical material, but the majority were found by Dr. Smith personally. When the Harrison Chemical Lahoratory was erected a t the University in 1894,Dr.Smith selected two rooms in the laboratory for his officesand these rooms he continued to occupy until his death, making them the depository for his collections.
_
As his collections increased, these two rooms gradually began to assume the appearance of a chemical museum, and as news of the variety and rarity of Dr. Smith's collections became known among chemists and others, the rooms became a mecca for students of the history of chemistry from all over the world. So important did his treasure house loom in the eyes of chemists that when the American Chemical Society met in Philadelphia in 1920, an exhibition of historical chemistry was held in Dr. Smith's office and hundreds of chemists, including Professor Bertrand, Head of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, Dr. Ernst Cohen, of Utrecht, Holland, Prince Conti, of Italy, and Professor Sapojnikoff, of Leningrad, Russia, were in attendance. 'According to the University of Pennsylvania authorities, a number of letters expressing the hope that Dr. Smith's collections would be preserved intact in their present setting and made accessible to interested students of chemistry have been received since Dr. Smith's death from men prominent in chemical circles. As a result, following Mrs. Smith's generosity in presenting the collections ., to the University, the work of fire-proofing and otherwise safeguarding the rooms in the Harrison Laboratory which contain the collections is being carried on as rapidly as possible so that the collection may again be made available to those interested in research in chemistry.
