hou01407 Bowditch, Charles P. (Charles Pickering), 1842-1921. Charles P. Bowditch papers on cryptography, 1911-1920 (MS Am 2171): Guide. 07/29/2002 Pacific Data Conversion Corp. 11/07/2013 Loaded into OASIS 10/02/2002 Diane Booton June 8, 2006 hou01407 converted by Harvard University Library OIS from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2006-06-08). MS Am 2171 Bowditch, Charles P. (Charles Pickering), 1842-1921. Charles P. Bowditch papers on cryptography, 1911-1920: Guide. Houghton Library, Harvard College Library

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 USA

© 2003 The President and Fellows of Harvard College

Last update on 2013 February 8. Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University b MS Am 2171 Bowditch, Charles P. (Charles Pickering), 1842-1921. Charles P. Bowditch papers on cryptography, 1911-1920. 2 boxes (1 linear ft.) Collection materials are in English. Papers on cyrptography assembled by Charles P. Bowditch.

45M-606 - 45M-611. Gift of Mrs. Franklin G. Balch, Mrs. Ingersoll Bowditch, and Mrs. Ernest Amory Codman, 99 Moss Road Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts; received: 1946 April 2.

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation for Publication:

Charles P. Bowditch Papers on Cryptography, 1911-1920 (MS Am 2171). Houghton Library, Harvard University.

Charles Pickering Bowditch (1842-1921) was the son of Jonathan Ingersoll Bowditch and Lucy O. Nichols, and was the grandson of Nathaniel Bowditch. After earning his degree from Harvard College he served as first and second lieutenant and captain of the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and as captain of the 5th Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry during the Civil War. Bowditch is perhaps best known for his pioneering work as an archeologist, specializing in Maya hieroglyphic writing. In 1910, he published The Numeration, Calendar Systems and Astronomical Knowledge of the Mayas, one of the premier studies of the subject. He was also a major benefactor to the Peabody Museum in Salem, Mass., and served as treasurer of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences from 1905 to 1915 and president from 1917 to 1919. [Source: Mass Historical Society].

Includes correspondence between Bowditch and George Fabyan, typescript transcript translations of books on cryptography by others, Bowditch's notes on cryptography, and other material.

 (1) [August II, duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, 1579-1666] A complete system of cryptography ... Typescript; [n.p:, n.d.] 743 num. l in 6 folders.

English translation of Cryptomenitices.

45M-611.

(2) [Bowditch, Charles Pickering, 1842-1921] [Baconiana] [Boston? n.d.] 3 p. l., 136 num. l in 2 folders.

Typed notebook with a few Ms. annotations.

45M-608

(3) [Bowditch, Charles Pickering, 1842-1921] [The Baconian cipher] Typescript with pencil emendations; [Boston? n.d.] 11 num. l

45M-609

(4) [Bowditch, Charles Pickering, 1842-1921] [Correspondence with George Fabyan; v.p., 1916-1920] 29 pieces.

45M-610

(5) Kendall, Frank Alexander, 1865- [William Shakespeare and his three friends ...] Typescript; [Boston, ca. 1910] 73 num. l in 2 folders.

Published in 1911.

45M-607

(6) Porta, Giovanni Battista della, 1535?-1615. On secret notations for letters ... Typescript (carbon); [Geneva, Ill., ca. 1915]

Black cloth.

45M-606