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William Atkinson was baptized on March 8, 1679. He appears to have been an amateur theologian or preacher in Great Britain. The collection consists of a handmade, leather-bound notebook that possibly belonged to William Atkinson. Compact handwriting fills all 96 pages plus the inside front and back covers with extracts taken from the works of contemporary theologians including John Tillotson's sermons, William Nichols's Defence of the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England, and Richard Baxter's Now or Never; along with Atkinson's commentary on the extracts and potentially original theological reflections or sermons by him. The choice of extracts, the inclusion of entries on Quaker theology, and the nature of Atkinson's criticism suggest that he took a non-conformist stance against the Church of England. The notebook is undated, but refers to the year 1715 on page four.

2 letters (ALS) and a clipping, including a letter to John Britton regarding Britton's autobiography.

Material includes a letter (ALS), reprints, holograph notes. All material relates to the letter, from Commodore Thomas Macdonough to B.W. Crowninshield, Secretary of the Navy, recommending William Beaumont for service in the Navy.

William Bell was a photographer from Philadelphia. He was employed in 1872 by the U.S. Geographical and Geological Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, a United States Army survey team. Collection includes sixteen gold-toned albumen prints, printed from negatives made by William Bell on the Wheeler Expedition of 1872. Fourteen photographs are from Arizona, two from Utah. Primary subjects include landscapes of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River. Some of Bell's photographs from this expedition were used for prints in George M. Wheeler's Report Upon United States Geographical Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian...(Washington: GPO, 1875-1889). In the field Bell prepared his own dry-plate negatives, a photographic process somewhat uncharacteristic for his time. he This process allowed him to store prepared plates longer than his contemporaries, who used wet plates, but would have also increased the exposure times for his plates.