Bassler
Harvey Bassler. “Adventures on the Upper Amazon”. The Lamp. Volume 8, no. 6. April 1926.
Photograph of Harvey Bassler. Circa 1940.
“Narratives” 1926 and 1928
Geologist, traveler, collector, scholar, and author Harvey Bassler received his BA degree at Myerstown Albright College in 1903 and a mining engineering degree from Lehigh University in 1908. He earned a Ph.D. from John Hopkins University in 1913, and was awarded honorary doctorates by Albright College and Lehigh.
Bassler spent many years in South America working for Standard Oil Company as geologist in charge of field studies in northeastern Peru. He traveled extensively in the jungle and at times lived among native tribes in the course of his field work. Following his work for Standard Oil, he spent 14 more years in Iquitos, Peru. Although he was primarily a geologist, he also had a deep interest and knowledge in other fields of science. During this time in Peru “he saw everything and made notes on all that he saw” and kept a journal which he called “Narrative”. Bassler’s journal is an extraordinary account that covers every aspects of the place he saw in Peru. Two sample volumes are displayed here.
Harvey Bassler was also a passionate book collector. During his years in Peru, he collected books on geography, natural history, geology, zoology and botany. It was believed that his collection was the largest private library in South America during that time. “The [Bassler] collection contains 60,000 items and weighs 24 tons and covers 14 ranges of stacks” reported the Brown and White when Harvey Bassler donated a large portion of his library to Lehigh University.
Bassler died in 1951 in an automobile accident.