(Manuscripts: American : Public Works : Etiology of the Yellow Fever). Letter Book of a Gentleman Epidemiologist. Evans, Cadwalader. Philadelphia, PA: 21 November, 1801 - 13 February, 1810.
1 vol in folio, 170 pages: (1p blank), 1p index, 1-170. Approximately 200 retained letter copies. Original wrappers; some chipping and occasional ink stains. Text and pagination in brown and black ink; slightly toned, some chipping to edges with no appreciable loss of text. Discussions of the author’s own theories regarding the causes of the notorious Yellow Fever outbreaks in Philadelphia, PA, based especially on retrospective observations of weather patterns and their correlation with contagion (see esp. p 118, a letter to Dr. Thomas James, President of the Board of Public Health, and pp144-151 passim). Other, frequent comments on responsibilities as public figure, having been Speaker of the PA House of Representatives one year earlier; his business affairs and personal life, including bouts of anxiety and depression; and collaborations with the Pennsylvania Hospital and the Philadelphia Board of Property. Of interest, too, is a 3pp proposal for the Schuylkill and Tulpehocken canal projects .* Includes also 3 loose manuscript leaves (from another letter book but in the same hand, paginated 205-210), and 22 pages letter copies (loose) pertaining to the financial affairs of multiple members of the Evans family.
Provenance: by descent of the family.