2. 1821 April 6-April 14, 1821

File — Box: 1, Folder: 7

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: This small collection of correspondence and related materials, 1821-1975, assembled by Alfred Rives Shands, Jr., documents his research on William E. Horner.

The collection is divided into four series. Series 1 contains Shands' correspondence, 1948-1975, concerning the loan and ultimate disposition of a collection of Horner papers and relics at the University of Pennsylvania and Shands' attempt to publish Horner's 1821 European diary. Series 2 contains two printed items concerning Horner's life.

Shands' typed transcript of Horner's 1821 diary is preserved in Series 3. The diary contains Horner's observations on life and conditions in England, the Netherlands, and France; Particular emphasis is placed on the anatomical collections and hospitals which Horner visited. The diary also contains Horner's views on the teaching of anatomy.

Typed transcripts and one original letter of William E. Horner are preserved in Series 4. There are two letters, 1821 and 1840, from Horner to his father. The 1821 letter describes 4th of July celebrations by Americans in Paris and Horner's meeting with General Lafayette. The 1840 letter, which exists in its original form is a lengthy discussion of Horner's religious life and reasons for conversion to Roman Catholicism. There are also copies of letters from Charles Vizzardelli, secretary to Pope Gregory XVI, 1840, and the Pope himself, 1844, thanking Horner for gifts of books.