I spent a quiet Friday morning boxing up the Robert C. Stebbins collection and it is now barreling through my door; all ten cubic feet of it.
Ominous cart knocking at my door
Stebbins’s 33 years at the MVZ were prolific ones. His collection includes unpublished manuscript material, research and data for his many publications, and correspondence. The collection also includes collaborative species distribution map ranges, which he would send out to various institutions and colleagues. They in turn would return the maps with their own annotations.
Stebbins routinely made his own personal collections of various topics that interested him. His collection on amphibian decline is especially impressive and includes correspondence on the topic. I’m not entirely sure how these small “libraries” will fit into the larger picture of the collection, yet. While mostly made up of published material, they are important aggregations of information, not only for Stebbins’s research but for the academic community.
Stebbins oil painting, 1993
In addition to his research and manuscript material, the Stebbins collection includes his scientific illustrations and oil paintings. Visitors of the MVZ can find his paintings scattered throughout the museum.
Robert C. Stebbins is best known for authoring the Peterson Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. You can read more about Robert Stebbins on the MVZ website.