James J. Bohning Philatelic Chemistry Collection

The James J. Bohning Philatelic Chemistry Collection includes thirteen copies of a postcard from 1983 issued by the United States Postal Service, which is a commemoration of the life and work of English Chemist Joseph Priestley by the American Institute of Chemists. The postcards include text in English that reads, “Official First Day Souvenir Card, The American Institute of Chemists Honors Joseph Priestley, April 13, 1983,” with a stamp featuring a color illustration of Priestley adhered to the cover of each postcard. Attached to the postcards is a card featuring a color picture of a chemistry lab with equipment, text in English explaining the importance of the Joseph Priestley stamp, and an additional copy of the Priestley stamp included inside the card.

Also included in the collection are eleven postal covers celebrating various American Chemical Society national meetings and anniversaries issued between 1951 and 1995, eight postal covers commemorating the Pittsburgh Conference and Exposition on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy from 1990 to 2003, and a postal cover from 1965 commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Pure Food and Drug Act featuring an illustration of American chemist Harvey W. Wiley and four United States Postal Service stamps featuring the same illustration of Wiley with text in English that reads, “Harvey W. Wiley, 50th Anniversary Pure Food and Drug Laws.”

The collection also includes the following materials: a postal cover from 1957 with a black and white illustration of an industrial factory with text in English that reads, “Commemorating Steel’s First Century,” and a stamp with a blue illustration of industrial equipment with text in English that reads, “America and Steel Growing Together, Steel Centennial 1957”; a postal cover from 1959 commemorating the Colonel Drake Oil Well featuring a black and white illustration of a man’s face set against an industrial landscape and the outline of the state of Pennsylvania with the city of Titusville mapped out; and a postal cover from 2001 commemorating the one-hundred-and-twenty-fifth anniversary of the American Chemical Society with three stamps adhered to the postal cover, with an attached description explaining its importance and rarity. The collection also includes a printed page of text in English titled, “Celebrating A Century: The American Chemical Society Anniversary Years of 1901, 1926, 1951, and 1976,” as well as a printed image of a handwritten letter from February 8, 1799 written by English chemist Joseph Priestley to George Thatcher with an attached transcription in English.