DR-82-259-37. Arreos at the Escorial. Pencil on wove paper. 4 3/4 x 7 in. (12.1 x 17.8 cm), 1927

This collection contains Wells M. Sawyer's personal correspondence, photographs, drawings (including sketches on several of the letters), watercolors, news clippings, and notes and other materials pertaining to the Pepper-Hearst Expedition of 1896. This collection is useful to researchers interested in the life and artistic career of Sawyer, particularly his role as a member of Pepper-Hearst Expedition. Although the collection spans his entire life and covers many important events, the collection is not comprehensive and has numerous gaps. For example, Sawyer's sketches primarily date from his later travels (circa 1920-1947), and there are only two examples of his watercolors. His personal correspondence includes photocopies and transcriptions of original and duplicate copies, and some pages are missing from the correspondence.

The Pepper-Hearst Expedition papers primarily consist of Sawyer's own draft report on the expedition, as well as his correspondence, and field notes. The folders also include a few Frank Hamilton Cushing letters and newspaper clippings. One folder contains a catalog of the photographs that Sawyer took on the expedition (the actual negatives are kept at the Smithsonian Institute and are not present in the University of Florida collection). Additionally, some photographs mentioned in the Pepper-Hearst correspondence are not enclosed with the corresponding letter and are not in the collection.

The papers are organized alphabetically by subject, and the sketches and watercolors are organized according to a numeric identification scheme.