A series of spider drawings and accompanying notes by the naturalist John Abbot (1751–c.1840) served as the basis of many new taxa described by Charles A. Walckenaer. Since the late nineteenth century, researchers have wrongly associated these drawings with Abbot's watercolors of Georgia spiders (and some Opiliones) held at The Natural History Museum, London. In reality, the drawings and notes consulted by Walckenaer are deposited at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris. Six letters preserved with these drawings, dated 1802–1821, corroborate their provenance as published by Walckenaer. This mistaken identity stems from Abbot's practice of duplicating his artwork and written observations. It has yet to be determined how the differences between these collections of drawings will impact species synonymies as they relate to Walckenaer's taxa. One example involves the original concept of Sphasus vittatusWalckenaer, 1837.