This collection of Shepard's papers consists primarily of letters to him during the period 1830-1833 concerning his mineral collecting. There are some papers that he saved concerning the sugar industry as well as a few notebooks he used for Chemistry notes under Professor Silliman, and a bound volume of pamphlets by Shepard. At the end of the collection is a miscellaneous group of various materials such as old newspapers. The collection was the gift of the Pratt Geology Museum, November 1968.

This collection is organized into four series:

• 1. Letters, ca. 1830-1833
• 2. Papers, ca. 1826-1833
• 3. Miscellaneous Materials, ca. 1831-1840
• 4. Bound Manuscripts and Pamphlets, ca. 1833-1881