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Unpublished letter, 'An account of the discovery of some fossils in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire' from B [Benjamin] Bevan to the President [Sir Joseph Banks]

Reference number: AP/8A/2

Date: 06 December 1817

Description

Bevan describes fossilised Belemnites that were discovered during the creation of shafts for a navigable tunnels through the Grand Ridge in southern Leicestershire, as well as fossilised Orthoceratites [Orthoceras] and Belemnites that were disovered during construction of the Grand Union Canal and further navigable tunnels in Northamptonshire. He reports that he struggled to find intact specimens but presented one to the British Museum. Minor annotations appear in graphite.

Subject: Palaeontology

Written by Bevan at Leighton Buzzard [Bedfordshire, England] and addressed to Banks in Soho Square, London. Postmarked 8 December 1817. Read to the Royal Society on 12 March 1818.

Reference number
AP/8A/2
Earliest possible date
06 December 1817
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
4 pages
Format
Manuscript

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Citation

Unpublished letter, 'An account of the discovery of some fossils in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire' from B [Benjamin] Bevan to the President [Sir Joseph Banks], 06 December 1817, AP/8A/2, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_8a_2/unpublished-letter-an-account-of-the-discovery-of-some-fossils-in-leicestershire-and-northamptonshire-from-b-benjamin-bevan-to-the-president-sir-joseph-banks, accessed on 09 February 2026

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    The 'Archived Papers' collection is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.

    Dates: 1768 - 1989

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