Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) was a French political economist, writer, publisher, and public administrator. He was an advocate for a national educational system and promoted Franco-American trade relations. This is a printed copy of the third edition of La philosophie de l'univers (The Philosophy of the Universe), written by du Pont de Nemours in 1799, redated to 1814, with numerous revisions and additions in the form of annotations and interleavings. It is much more introspective than earlier editions and reveals a good deal about du Pont de Nemours' worldview as he was approaching the end of his life. The revised text is part philosophy and part memoir and includes long sections about death, religion, gender, and reincarnation that were not present in earlier editions.

Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) was a French political economist, writer, publisher, and public administrator. He was an advocate for a national educational system and promoted Franco-American trade relations. The collection consists of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours correspondence and writings in addition to correspondence of his second wife, Françoise (Robin) Poivre.

Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) was a French diplomat who later immigrated to the United States and established various trading companies before moving to Delaware. He was the eldest son of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817). The collection consists of correspondence, business and personal papers, and writings of Victor Marie du Pont and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine (de la Fite de Pelleport) du Pont.