Hugo de Vries was a Dutch botanist and geneticist who is best remembered today for introducing the "mutation theory." Expanding on the work of Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel, de Vries proposed that evolution might occur far more frequently than previously supposed by Darwin in the form of dramatic, large-scale changes. It was considered the dominant theory into how evolution works until the theories of Darwin and Mendel were synthesized into the more unified theory best known today. This archive represents some of the most popular and controversial theories from the early years of genetic study. 

Included in this archive are:
Approximately 1,000 pamphlets, books, and other items by and related to Hugo de Vries (many from his personal library), including many items SIGNED by DeVries and other prominent geneticists such as Bradley Moore Davis, Nils Heribert-Nilsson, and others. Numerous photocopied pages from personal journals, unpublished letters, and other items, as well as carbon copies of correspondence between de Vries and his American personal assistant, Elizabeth Day Palmer, along with modern printings of books by and related to de Vries and other geneticists. Provenance: Hugo de Vries, Elizabeth Day Palmer, Charles Atwood Kofoid, others (ownership inscriptions, bookplates).