American professor of chemistry, botany, and zoology, colonel during the American Civil War, and leader in agricultural education (1826-1886) remembered for his employment by the Japanese government to establish the Sapporo Agricultural College; he made a significant impact on the scientific and economic development of the island of Hokkaido, and made a lasting imprint on Japanese culture with his popular phrase: 'Boys, be ambitious!' ALS signed "Wm. S. Clark," four pages on two adjoining sheets, 8.25 x 10.5, February 16, 1851. Handwritten letter from Gottingen, where he was attending Georgia Augusta University to obtain a doctorate in chemistry. In part: "I am sure if you are faithful to yourself and scholars, you will acquire more knowledge as a teacher than you would have done as a scholar…I have seen some of the rarest and most splendid minerals in the world, in the British Museum and in private collections-but nothing to make me ashamed of such a cabinet as Prof. Shepard's, or the one at Yale. One of the finest things in the British Museum is a group of those icy crystals of Selenite from Germany of which I believe you have a specimen. The specimen is composed wholly of translucent crystals interwoven so as to form an almost solid mass, about three feet and a half long, three feet high and two and a half wide, weighing over 500 lbs. It was presented by Prince Albert, and is altogether the most magnificent and faultless specimen I ever saw…I had the pleasure of seeing also many rare and interesting fossils, and most wonderful of all the fossil man from Guadeloupe…Being only miles from the Harts Mts. where are the deepest mines in the world and many rare ores and minerals I have fine opportunities for purchasing and exchanging specimens…I am getting on splendidly in chemistry…I have just bought an elegant balance…and a microscope with a magnifying power of 300, for examining crystals and plants. Cost only $100! My opportunities for study are the best I could possibly have." In very good condition, with several thin tears and a few losses to the very fragile paper.
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