The holdings of the Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library range from ancient papyri to records of modern advertising. There are over 10,000 manuscript collections containing more than 20 million individual manuscript items. Only a portion of these collections and items are discoverable on this site. Others may be found in the library catalog.
Scrapbook (150 pages) maintained by Chamberlin that documents her family history, and contains information on the various hotels run by Franklin Tenney. There are early legal documents for the Varnum family, as well as other documents for the Tenney and Chamberlin families. In addition, there are newspaper clippings, letters, broadsides, advertisements, photographs, and invitations. Many items have been laid or tipped in.
Includes eleven bills of sale for enslaved people: • George, 22 or 23, and Sam, about 7: From Harrison and Francis Hicks of Giles County, TN, to Clement Comer Clay of Huntsville, AL, for "one negro man, slave, of black complexion, twenty two or three years old, named George, and also one negro boy, slave, of dark complexion, about seven years old named Sam." For $1250. 1818 March 12. • Isaac, about 12: From Edmund Hardy and Fortundaus (?) S. Cook to Comer Clay, for one enslaved boy, "of black complexion, about twelve years old, named Isaac." For $700. 1818 June 08 • Dick, about 26: From Arthur F. Hopkins to Clement Comer Clay, for "a certain negro man, named Dick, about twenty six years old". For $900. 1819 June 01 • Hampton, about 13: From J. Willis Pope (?) of Hunstville, AL, to Clement C. Clay, for "a certain negro boy, about thirteen years old, of a yellowish complexion, named Hampton" for $500. 1820 March 03 • Dedun, about 15: From Colin Bishop of Madison County, AL, to Clement C. Clay for "a negro boy, named Dedun, of dark complexion, about fifteen years old." For $500. 1821 November 25 • Davy: Letter from C. Bishop in Huntsville, AL, to his father Wyatt Bishop, agreeing to sell "his man Davy" to "Judge Clay" for $500; says to tell Davy he won't be far from his wife. 1822 January 01. Wyatt Bishop added note on reverse affirming receipt of payment from a C.C. Clay • Treasy/Crecy, 30 or 31, and her children Jacob, 13, Aimy, 7, and Joe, 7 or 8 months: From William F. Withers to Clement C. Clay for "Treasy alias Crecy" "a negro woman of black complexion" age 30-31; Jacob "yellow" 13; Aimy, 7; Joe, 7-8 months old. For $1200. 1822 August 07. • Jacob, about 22: From William Clay, Jr to Clement C. Clay, for one enslaved man "Jacob, about twenty two years of age, and of a dark complexion." 1823 July 15 • Minerva, 30, and her son Stephen, about 1 year, and Celia, 32, and her son Abraham, 1 year: From John Grayson, Madison County, AL, to Clement C. Clay. For $794. 1825 January 24. • Garland, 19: From John Taylor and Jesse Mundy of Amherst County, VA, to Clement C. Clay, for a 19 year old man Garland, "black complexion." For $600. 1825 October 08. • Nanny, 38, and her children Nancy, 7, Jackson, 4, and Sampson, 2: From William F. Withers of Lauderdale County, AL, to Clement C. Clay, for Nanny about 38; and her three children, Nancy age 7, Jackson age 4 and Sampson age 2. For $1000. 1826 September 02.
Letters between family members also reference individual enslaved persons, particularly multiple letters from William Clay to his son Clement Comer Clay in 1823-1824 regarding someone named Cynthia requesting C.C. Clay send Crecy to her, and how this travel might take place. Also includes a letter to C.C. Clay from a George Mas(son?), 1818 July 05, regarding the likelihood of purchasing enslaved people and where it can best be accomplished.
Also includes other letters from and to C.C. Clay, Sr., regarding court business; letters from William Clay regarding court business, running of plantations, and hiring of and other matters related to enslaved people; and other family and professional letters.
Includes letters primarily written to Cornelius Bowman Campbell's parents, Rebecca (Whitcomb) and Hezekiah, although a few other individuals are addressees. Topics include visits and visitors; news of friends and family members; announcements of births, deaths, and weddings; and descriptions of balls held. There are also several letters discussing genealogical information for the Campbell and Whitcomb families. Includes an indenture for Hezekiah to learn the shoemaking trade, a small account book with unidentified owner (1843-1844), and part of a dressmaker's pattern. Two letters contain fabric samples for a dress and a bonnet.
Family correspondence to Neill Brown and other relatives, including Hugh and Duncan Brown and John Gillespie, Neill Brown's son-in-law. Topics include family health, the family's migration from the Carolinas to Tennessee, "land got from Indians" and subsequent colonization and settlement by white slaveholding communities, and Presbyterian ministry efforts.
Includes a note written by an unnamed enslaved man to "master John" asking for the reason "you always preach to the white folks and keep your back to us." The letter writer continues, "If I should ask you what must I do to be saved perhaps you would tel me pray let the bible be your gide [.] this would do very well if we could read I do not think there is one in fifty that can read but I have been more fortunate than the most of the black people I can read and write in my way as to be understood I hopes. I have a weak mind about the duteys of religious people If God sent you to preach to siners did he direct you to keep your face to the white folks constantly or is it because these give you money if this is the cause we are the very persons that labored for this money but it is handed to you by our masters." This letter follows a letter from John Fort Jr., Wayne Co. South Carolina, to Hugh Brown, Robeson Co. N.C., dated 1821 June 26. There is a typescript of the note alongside the original in the collection.
41 loose (but rebound) journal pages kept by Brown, containing family history, medical prescriptions and recipes, notes on colonial American history, agricultural and weather records, and financial accounts. Some pages include names, marriage dates, and birthdates of children, including the children of Malcolm Smith and Sarah Patterson (1740s-1760s), and Daniel Smith and Catherine Brown (1770s-1780s).
The volume also contains Brown's notes on names and birthdates of children born to enslaved women, including "names and ages of Amey's children" (nine children: Fancy, Isaac, Antony, Clarsey, Manuel, Alfred, Virgel, Jake, Hamlet, born between 1799 and 1819) as well as "names and ages of Fancy's children" (ten children: Owen, Madson, Sampson, Amey, Robert, Clarsey, Antony, George, Manuel, Effie born between 1818 and 1838). One page contains a note from Neill Brown dated 1830 July 6 reads "I wish Hugh to have Madison; William to have Sampson; Clarency for Catherine's children; Robert for young A. Buie; old Amey for Elizabeth."
File includes a typed transcription of the journal prepared by Bradley M. Buie in 2000.
Includes oversize newspapers: issue Spirit of the Age (Vol. X no. 35, dated 1859 April 27) and issue of Richmond Christian Advocate (Vol. III no. 18, dated 1849 May 3).
Two account books, and loose receipts, bills, promissory notes, estate papers, and other financial records concerning the Bullock family, particularly John Bullock's general store in Granville County (now Vance), and the 19th century farms and small plantations of the Bullocks and other relations. Of particular note are two 1836 documents concerning the purchase by John Bullock from the Torrey or Toney family of an African American woman, Kitty, and her three children, Martha Ann, Mordecai, and Sally.
Two bound volumes, missing covers, listing accounts from John Bullock's general merchandise store in rural Granville County (now Vance), North Carolina; the smaller volume is from 1808, while the larger volume dates from 1818-1819. The entries are listed by personal name. Several Bullocks are regular customers. Total approximately 200 pages.
Series contains legal papers mainly recorded in Granville County, including a handful of indentures and deeds for land, several summons initiated by John Bullock for non-payment, a record relating to William Anderson's estate, an estate trial for Dennis Royster with William Bullock as administrator, as well as a few records pertaining to community disputes.
Manuscript map with color depicting land and shoreline of Lake Mattemuskeet, including a segment of land in dispute between the Parmer and Clayton property holders. A later clipping discusses the lake, which had by then been drained.
This is the autograph and signed letter collection of Benjamin W. Austin. Many of the letters and autographs were obtained through Mr. Austin's written request, but older items appear to have come from the autograph collection of Henry Sheldon of Salisbury, Vermont. Although many items are older, most of Mr. Austin's active collecting was done in the 1880s and 1890s. The group includes items from Congressmen, Civil War heroes, literary figures, and educators. Of special note in the collection is a 1798 message from William Henry Harrison at Fort Washington. Many of the items are accompanied by biographical clippings and several are attached to photographs. Of particular interest are the vintage photographs of Commander Gilbert C. Wittse, naval engineer William H. Shock, and statesman and educator J. L. M. Curry.
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Sales slips and bills of Beauregard in Philadelphia, buying medicinal goods and settling acounts (1817-1819); three letters from "Good Rest" (1822), one from his overseer, Richard Newman, one from his manager, John Cotter, and a letter from young Dr. Beauregard to his father in Augusta, Ga. An undated list of the goods and slaves of his plantation in included in the collection.
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Stephen Row Bradley and his son William Czar Bradley were lawyers who, as residents of Westminster, Vermont, served in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives respectively. Later Stephen moved to Walpole, New Hampshire. Many prominent New Englanders corresponded with them about Federalist, Republican, and Democratic politics, patronage, and legal and personal matters. Stephen's son-in-law, Samuel Griswold Goodrich ("Peter Parley") was his most frequent correspondent. Other subjects of the correspondence include the Vermont militia, relations between the U.S. and Tripoli, attitudes toward the War of 1812, surveying of the northeastern boundary between the U.S. and Canada, General Lafayette's visit to Thomas Jefferson in 1824, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson.
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Collection consists of two undated engravings of Brown, a letter, and a memorandum bound in pink ribbon. The letter is addressed to the Secretary of the Navy and was written in Brown's capacity as Commander. The full title of the memorandum booklet is "Memoranda of occurences and some important facts attending the Campaign on the Niagara." Brown narrates the events of the campaign. There are verified copies of major communications during the campaign, including messages from J.C. Calhoun, James Monroe, General Ripley, and others. Of special interest is a sort of appendix consisting of "An Estimate of the British Regular Troops in Upper Canada, July 1, 1814. With a view of their distribution." It is a detailed look at early nineteenth century military conflicts.
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283 autographed letters collected by Cist, largely of military officers as well as writers and scientists.
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Correspondence and papers of Henry William De Saussure and of grandson Wilmot Gibbes De Saussure, South Carolina legislator and Confederate Army officer. Subjects include the establishment of South Carolina College (later the University of South Carolina), the Mexican War, conditions in the Confederacy, political phases of Reconstruction, an interview between Carl Schurz and Henry A. De Saussure, effect of the contested election of 1877, and the Charleston earthquake of August 31, 1886. Also included are documents concerning real estate transfers, and genealogical records of the Bacot, Burden, De Saussure, Gourdin, Hamilton, Mood, Pringle, and Swinton families. Among the correspondents and persons mentioned are P.G.T. Beauregard, Henry Alexander De Saussure, John M. De Saussure, Adam T. Millican, Benjamin Silliman, and Henry D.A. Ward. The 5 items collected by the Daltons were merged into this collection.
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These 22 items are largely correspondence written in Washington, DC or sent to Washington, DC. Examples include a 1928 letter from Herbert Hoover to John Mullowney of Nashville, TN, a 1901 letter from Senator Orville H. Platt to Julius Brown, Esq., an 1884 letter from Secretary of the Interior, Henry M. Teller to U. S. Representative Richard Warner, an 1881 letter from Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, an 1879 letter from then-U. S. Representative James A. Garfield to Joseph Carter of Missouri, an 1877 letter from Z. Chandler, Chairman of the National Republican Committee to George Carter of New Orleans, an 1863 and an 1866 letter from U. S. Representative Schuyler Colfax, and an 1865 letter written by Confederate veteran, George C. Watkins of Little Rock to Washington lawyer James Carlisle, regarding Watkins' legal post-war woes. This folder is in Box 3 of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
Papers in this collection include letters, as well as financial and legal documents. The oldest item is a French marriage contract drawn in 1763, in the name of Louis Renee Adrien Dugas. Most of the material in the collection, however, pertains to Leon Frederick E. Dugas, who traveled extensively as a cotton merchant and general factor. Letters to Dugas discuss business and prices, as well as numerous lawsuits and disputes with importers. Several letters to Dugas from his brother-in-law and partner Paul Ronignol, are in French. A letterpress volume from 1845 records much of Dugas's correspondence from that year. Many of these letters are in French, and virtually all deal with matters of finance, cotton sales, or estate settlements. Of interest are documents representing Dugas's attempts to gain control of the Habersham Iron Works; papers relating to the sale of slaves to the family; and an inventory showing that in 1827, the Dugas family purchased most of the land, goods, and slaves of "Good-Rest," the Edgefield, S.C. home of Dr. Beauregard.
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Collection contains mainly legal items, such as deeds and land grants. The evolution of a tract of land in S.C., 1755, may be traced to the Civil War.
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Collection contains the business papers of Joseph Gales, Jr., and William W. Seaton, editors of the National Intelligencer. Correspondence pertains to subscriptions, advertising, announcements and letters to the editors. Some prominent names appear in the subscription correspondence. Of particular interest are fifty-six transcripts of Congressional speeches, resolutions, and motions. These were presented for publication and are marked for editing. Among the authors of the manuscripts are Henry Clay, James K. Polk, Martin Van Buren, and Daniel Webster. Many are signed. Part of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
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Two letters written by Gaston [of New Bern, NC] to an unknown person. These letters are located in Box 4 of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
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Twelve items, miscellaneous in relation to one another, but all relate to Georgia. Items include a pledge of allegiance to the Union, signed by Andrew Young in 1865 and an 1806 pardon for Jedediah Seymore signed by Secretary of State Horatio Marbury. These items are located in Box 4 of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
Primarily correspondence of various government departments and individuals.
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This collection consists military and other papers of Gen. Thomas Sidney Jesup relating mainly to the War of 1812, The Seminole War, and the Mexican War. It contains correspondence between Jesup and Major Willson, Hugh McCall, William Linnard, James Brown, L. P. Heintzelman, William Schley, and William Ballard Preston, among others. Topics are mostly related to military matters and relations with the Creeks and Seminoles. A detailed memoir by Jesup entitled "Memoir of the Campaigne on the Niagara" complements a similar item in the Jacob Jennings Brown Papers. Combined, the two memoirs yield a stunning overview of the Niagara Campaign, and also point to interesting areas of disagreement. Also included in the collection are two items from Washington, D.C., dated 1831. One represents the sale of 21 slaves to Jesup, while the other is the official District of Columbia authorization for such a sale, which is on Department of State Letterhead, and is signed by Secretary of State Edward Livingston. Additionally, the collection contains an 1813 article of agreement between Jesup and Brintnel Robins of Penn., who contracted to supply 65 boats for the U.S. troops. The boats were intended for the expedition that later led to the Battle of the Chippewa.
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Collection of miscellaneous items from Kentucky, including a 1795 Commonwealth of Ky. land grant of 9,728 acres in Nelson Co. to Joseph Lewis, among other deed transferrals. Additional items include a letter of recommendation from George Bibb; a letter dated 3 August 1816, from R. Whiting in New York to James Prentiss in Lexington, Ky., concerning the failure of acceptance of bank drafts on the Mechanics Bank and other banks in Philadelphia and New York; and various business letters.
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One letter in which Lane informs Congress the new Representative and Senate Chambers will be ready by the autumn of 1818. Dated 1817, the letter includes reports from James Hoban, who was put in charge of rebuilding the White House after it was destroyed in the War of 1812. Hoban gives a detailed account of materials, costs and interior finishing and reveals that the Oval Office was originally called the "Elliptical Saloon."
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The Daltons gifted 27 items which help make up the Lee papers.
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Correspondence, legal and financial papers, photographs, printed material, writings, clippings, and volumes relating chiefly to the Leech family, but also to relations in the Dewey, Warner, and Duryea families. Correspondence topics include: nineteenth-century American politics; reform movements; lectures and lyceums in New York; late nineteenth-century courtship; and school activities at the Stone School and Williams College. One series of letters from 1841 refer to the American poet Walt Whitman. Another series of letters from the Dewey family, beginning in the 1840s, originate from Ohio. Also included in this collection are papers concerning the Jamaica Lyceum, of which Abraham Paul Leech was secretary pro tem in the 1840s.
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Correspondence, legal papers, and financial papers of the Lucas family of Raleigh, N.C. Early letters (1813-1816) were written by Alexander Lucas to his wife Mary while he visited Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. Legal papers pertain to a lawsuit involving William Lucas, Henderson Lucas, and Margaret Lucas and concerning the estate and Revolutionary War military bounty of their grandfather, Thomas Lucas. A letter written to William Lucas from N. Davidson (1857) on an advertising sheet contains descriptions of inventions of 1857, including a counterfeit preventing machine for the printing of banknotes, a windmill, a pump, and a letter-copying press. Also included in the collection are letters (1861-1862) from Henderson Lucas of the 34th Regiment of N.C. Troops, Company G, to his sister Margaret. Lucas wrote from Camp Fisher near High Point, N.C., from Camp Davis near Wilmington, and from Hamilton's Crossing. Clippings include one describing Henderson Lucas' heroism at the battle of Gettysburg. Collection also includes a small account book (1821) in which Mary Lucas made a few brief entries.
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Collection of miscellaneous items from Maryland. Includes correspondence and an indenture. This folder is located in Box 6 of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
These are miscellaneous items gifted by Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton. Included are deeds and correspondence, including a letter from Jonathan Trumbull, an 1865 oath of allegiance signed by James Stump, a ticket to the trial of Tilton vs. Beecher in 1874, and a rough draft of a letter [1877] to Lucy Hayes. This folder is located in Box 6 of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
Miscellaneous items related to New York, largely correspondence. This folder is located in Box 6 of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
This collection contains miscellaneous items related to North Carolina. Largely correspondence, included is a speech on women, written by North Carolina's first governor, Richard Caswell. This folder is located in Box 6 of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
Miscellaneous correspondence written in Pennsylvania. Items are located in Box 7 of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
Includes correspondence; a memorandum of agreement between Pickens and David Files regarding a loan from Pickens to Files; financial papers relating to the operation of Pickens' plantation in Alabama; a mortgage bond; and an Agricultural Memorandum Book (1822-1826) which discusses the clearing of land for planting cotton and corn, describes the seeds he used, and includes several pages of accounts. Pickens also comments on his visits to Cahaba, Alabama, and the flood which occurred while it was the state capitol.
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Twenty-three items of correspondence in this collection mainly concern political matters after 1832, when Pickens became openly active in the nullification controversy. Several letters from 1833 deal with Colonel Pickens' efforts to promote the state oath of allegiance and to raise and provision a contingent of his Edgefield constituents. Of particular interest is a letter detailing the types and amounts of military supplies available to various local volunteer groups. The finest items in the collection are three lengthy letters from James Hammond to Pickens in 1839-1840. Some correspondence is personal. Also included are some legal documents and miscellany items. The collection is housed in Box 7 of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
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Chiefly correspondence of the Saye family. Early letters trace James Saye's progress through the Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga. Other correspondence details his pastorships in Henry County, Ga., in Unionville and Fairforest, S.C., then in Chester County, S.C. Several letters are from fellow ministers, and discuss Presbyterian Church matters and national politics. Later correspondence is chiefly between the six Saye daughters and their mother, Rebecca Saye (McJunkins), and concern domestic issues and Reconstruction in the South. A letter by Rebecca details the genealogies of the Saye and McJunkins families. One letter (1883) addressed to James Saye from a professor at Davidson College recounts college affairs. Other documents include legal papers, including one Freedmen's Bureau document of 1866 which indentures an orphaned African-American boy to Rev. Saye for fourteen years.
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This collection includes miscellaneous items related to South Carolina. Correspondence makes up the bulk of the collection and correspondents include Strom Thurmond and Arthur P. Hayne. Also included are financial documents such as receipts and printed material such as pamphlets for The Crosby Military Institute in Feasterville, S.C. and reports regarding S.C. government. The material is housed in Box 8 of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
Correspondence, financial papers, and legal documents, concerning William Sims' extensive plantation holdings in South Carolina. Includes two account books. Correspondence is primarily related to business matters, including cotton trade and prices; the price and availability of slaves; and the beginnings of a textile industry on the plantation. Local and state politicians in South Carolina are often mentioned, as is the general economic plight of the Southern planter in the period (ca. 1819-1830), and currency problems in the state (ca. 1826-1830). One personal letter effusively describes newly settled land in Mississippi and the quality of the cotton grown there. Detailed financial papers form the bulk of the collection, and concern the cotton trade (including weights, bale numbers, shipping, prices, and sales), and household and plantation expenses. Legal papers are confined to deeds, documents of land litigation, military commissions, and documents relating to slaves, such as indentures and lists of slaves on the plantation. Also includes genealogical information on the Sims family.Cotton grower in Union County, South Carolina.
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Collection of letters chiefly written by John Randolph, known as "Randolph of Roanoke," to various family members, including his half-sister Frances Bland Tucker Coalter, John Coalter, and Henry St. George Tucker. Other correspondents include St. George Tucker, Edmund Randolph, and William Wirt, Attorney General of the U.S. Topics cover family matters, Washington and Virginia politics, legal matters, illnesses, and child-rearing. Another letter mentions "automata," mechanical men Randolph observed while a law student in Philadelphia.
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This collection of correspondence, directed to the Secretaries of the U. S. Navy, consists largely of recommendations for young men desiring appointments to the Naval Academy and other Naval positions. Other contents include incidental messages on Navy finance, notes and letters on legislation affecting the Navy, reports on Naval operations in Gibraltar and elsewhere, on sailors' conduct and on provisioning.
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A detailed list of a cavalry troop; a letter from Tenn. governor Willie Blount to Capt. James Cowan of the U.S. Rangers, concerning the Creek Wars in Tenn.; a letter from Mass. governor Caleb Strong to Adj. Gen. John Brooks referring to appointments to the War Dept.; four letters of recommendation, two of these directed to Joel R. Poinsett, then Secretary of War; a property document (1865) from the Freedmen's Bureau; and a grant of military bounty lands to a Mrs. Sarah Woolley.
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Miscellaneous items related to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Collection includes mainly land grants and correspondence. This material is located in Box 9 of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
Facsimilies of Washington correspondence and several engravings of both Washington and his wife Martha. These items are located in Box 9 of the Harry L. and Mary K. Dalton Collection.
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Correspondence of members of the Wilkes family, consisting primarily of letters to Charles Wilkes (1798-1877), naval admiral, and of many letters that he wrote. Letters from prominent scientists such as James Renwick, Asa Gray, James D. Dana, and Jean L. R. Agassiz also appear in the papers, as does correspondence of naval officers, Congressmen, diplomats, and cabinet secretaries, especially Secretaries of the Navy. Included among the numerous subjects mentioned in the papers is the exploring expedition that Wilkes commanded to the Antarctic continent, islands of the Pacific Ocean, and the American Northwest coast from 1838-1842. There is a lot of family correspondence from various members of the Wilkes family which include two wives of Charles Wilkes. Other types of material in the collection are legal papers, financial records, printed material, writings, account books, a science notebook written by Wilkes' son Edmund in 1847, and a volume entitled, "Notes Relative to the Fijii [sic] Islands," written by Charles Wilkes. These items make up part of the Charles Wilkes Papers.
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Papers of William Wirt and of Elizabeth Washington (Gamble) Wirt, including letters concerning William's law practice; a letter relating an anecdote concerning William Wirt, Henry Clay, and a General Parker; fragmentary letter, 1833, from Wirt to a law student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, discussing education; and a fragment of Wirt's draft of his biography of Patrick Henry. Correspondence of Elizabeth Washington (Gamble) Wirt, wife of William, and two sons, Dabney Carr and William C., concerns the purchase and sale of land, a debt incurred by Wirt for land he planned to develop in Florida, the widow's financial affairs, the erection of a monument to her husband, and other family matters.
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This collection contains correspondence, primarily containing observations of a social and political nature regarding the period in South Carolina before, during and immediately following the Civil War. Much of the subject matter deals with viewpoints of the women. Correspondants include: her mother, Mrs. Louisa Roberts; her brother, Samuel C. Roberts; and her best friend, Countess Aniela N. Pinkind, as well as Charles F. A. Holst, her future husband.
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Items relating to a variety of subjects, including architecture, automobiles, fashion, political cartoons and caricatures, and military conflicts, particularly the American Civil War but also the Revolutionary, Spanish-American, and World Wars.
Visual materials from a wide range of geographic locations separated into subseries by American state/territory or foreign country. More than half of the subseries and materials are of various U.S. states, mostly on the Eastern seaboard. The majority of the U.S. material comes from the assorted subseries of the southern states, the largest of which are Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Much of the North Carolina subseries features historical images of Durham.
Most of these pictures of historical or geographic locales do not include people, but there are a significant number of street scenes and the like with many unidentified individuals. Images in this series are mostly photographs and engravings , though there are lithographs, paper prints, clippings, albums, and postcards as well.
The People Series contains images of individuals and groups from many historical periods. The majority of the images depict prominent American and European (mostly British) white men, such as political and military leaders, clergymen, and nobility. A large portion of the American individuals portrayed in this series are Civil War officers, both Union and Confederate.
Individual portraits make up the vast majority of items in this series. While most are posed studio portraits, there is a significant number of informal images as well as large gatherings of unidentified people. Photographs and engravings make up the largest group of formats in the series, though there are also lithographs, clippings and other printed illustrations, tintypes, handbills, broadsides, sketches, and postcards.
The images in this series are listed alphabetically by name or assigned title. Physical files may retain original (and no longer used) labels such as "Negro" and "Indian."
Originally part of the Socialist Party Records, this series was added to the Picture File in the 1980s and remains intellectually distinct from the other series in the collection. It has two subseries: General and People. The General Subseries consists of images depicting a variety of subjects, ranging from Civil Rights protests in the U.S. to news photographs of the Nazi military buildup in the early 1930s. This subseries also contains images of Socialist Party headquarters, parades, and strikes. The People Subseries contains portraits of various socialist leaders throughout the party's history (both national and regional), with a large amount of material focusing on the life of five-time U.S. presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs. Also included in this subseries are groups of socialist legislators as well as assembled socialist conventions and delegations. The vast majority of the images in this series portray various events and individuals in Socialist Party history; however, there are also a few items which depict places of socialist interest, such as the city of Vienna or the party headquarters in Chicago. Images in this series are chiefly photographic; other formats include handbills, clippings, sketches, black-and-white illustrations, a viewbook, and postcards.
The Picture File is a large and diverse collection of visual materials ranging from the 17th through the 20th centuries. The bulk of the images in the collection date from the early 1800s through the 1950s. The dominant formats are engravings and photographs. Specific formats include: cartes de visite, cabinet cards, and other albumen prints; tintypes and daguerreotypes (cased and uncased); engravings, lithographs, and other mechanical prints; caricatures and cartoons; watercolors; sketches; postcards; stereographs; small souvenir albums; leaflets; and small broadsides. There are a few cyanotypes and negatives.
The images offer views from most of the southern United States, especially North and South Carolina and Virginia. Many images are from Europe, with a smaller number from Japan and China; a large variety of other countries and locations are represented by a few images. The history of Durham is also well-represented, in addition to other Southern cities and towns, including Raleigh N.C. Many political and military leaders and notable personages, primarily from the U.S. and Europe are present in portraits and caricatures; there are numerous images of Eugene Debs, U.S. Socialist Party leader, and members of the Duke family of Durham, N.C. A significant number of individuals in the People Series are African Americans, ranging from individual studio portraits to groups of individuals and racist caricatures and cartoons; a smaller number are of Native Americans.
The Subjects Series is eclectic, including advertising, cartoons, tobacco, ships, and images from conflicts: Civil War images are abundant, offering views of battles and devastation both rural and urban. There are also scenes from the American Revolutionary War, Spanish-American War, and both World Wars. Finally, the Picture File is home to collections of many engravings and lithographs produced by the 19th century American companies Currier and Ives, L. Prang and Co., and Kurz and Allison; many of them commemorate military leaders or events.
Addition (2009-0183) (900 items; 1.2 lin. ft.; dated 1960s-2000s) includes manuscripts of essays and short stories; drafts of plays and accompanying production materials; research files and correspondence from Bingham's investigations into her family's history (1980s); notebooks and journals; and other miscellaneous materials.
Series includes legal papers, mostly related to Burt's law practice, especially the management of estates of Confederate soldiers, and the Calhoun estate.
Series consists mainly of correspondence relating to Turner's work at Ft. Columbus, in particular the acquisition of supplies and matters relating to Turner's pay, and a manuscript physician's prescription and logbook.
During this period, Turner attempted to secure a commission. Turner was informed of his appointment as surgeon to the 1st Regiment of Artillery in February 1813, but, as the material in this series shows, an administrative error concerning his first name held up the issuing of his commission. In an effort to correct this mistake, Turner corresponded with Amos Stoddard (Major of the Artillery Corps at Fort Columbus), Henry Dearborn, William Simmons, John Armstrong Jr. (Secretary of War, 1813-1814), Daniel Parker (Chief Clerk of the War Department), and Joseph B. Varnum. Turner also wrote six letters to James Madison and two to James Monroe (then Secretary of War) on the issue of his commission. Turner's commission did not arrive before his death in 1815.
The logbooks consists of approximately 45 manuscript pages, with 19 of the pages covered with later newspaper clippings by his son, whose name appears on the cover. By the time of his War of 1812 service described in this volume, Philip Turner was 74 years old and still making the rounds for the 1st Regiment of Artillery at Fort Columbus on Governor's Island. His logbook entries often list the soldiers under his care and the treatment he prescribed. Venereal disease was a common complaint. Turner also visited officer's wives. Most entries are presumed to be for treatment at Fort Columbus. Turner also treated patients at the United States Arsenal on Bridge Street, at the West Battery (Castle Clinton), and at the regular recruiting rendezvous on Market Street. The newspaper clippings obscure earlier entries which likely begin on 11 June 1814 (the date on the cover of the volume).
Turner did not sign this volume, but it matches his handwriting, and most of the officers mentioned here served in the 1st Artillery during this period, including Colonel Jacob Kingsbury. This volume was inherited by Turner's grandson, John Turner Wait (1811-1899), who later represented Connecticut in Congress. Wait signed the cover, may have added the cover illustration, an engraving titled "The Monkey Prepareing to Shave the Cat," and filled half the volume with clippings dated 1830 and 1831.
Portraits and snapshots, some professional produced and mounted images. Contains posed pictures of family's children as well as some graduates and formal portraits. Includes at least one picture of Ruth Hypes as a baby.
Materials related to the enumeration, buying, and selling of enslaved people owned by the Corbin, Hamilton, and Couper families. The earliest documents date from 1712 and are lists of enslaved people owned by Edmund Jenings in Virginia. These lists also have information about where each enslaved person is quartered for the year. Later documents from the nineteenth century include accounts, bills of sale, lists, and correspondence that discuss and provide evidence of the buying, selling, mortgaging, and enumeration of enslaved people. Other materials in the Financial and Legal Papers and Correspondence of this collection may provide additional documentation of slavery.
Several 1833 letters discuss a cholera outbreak and its impact upon the enslaved people at the plantation.
The Archaeology series contains pamphlets, offprints, extracts, and many illustrated pieces. It is a small group of 233 pamphlets.
Of importance are the pamphlets concerning numismatics, particular excavations during the nineteenth century, papyrus studies, ancient art, and Italian ceramics. There is even an unusual and probably rare guide to the pornographic artifacts in the Museum of Archeology in Naples.
Authors of interest include Medea Norsa, a well-known papyrologist of the nineteenth century, Luigi Pernier, Corrado Ricci, Giuseppe Gerola, Guido Ferrari, Santi Muratori, Astorre Pellegrini, E. Teza, Luigi Milani, Luigi Rizzoli, Settimio Severo, and Luigi Chiappelli.
Related subjects and areas of overlap are found in the Italian Art series and perhaps in the history-related subject areas.
This is a small group of 147 pamphlets, many of them illustrated, having to do with the design and construction of particular monuments or buildings.
The dates range from 1795 to 1942.
Of primary importance are pamphlets on Renaissance palaces and on the architecture of churches. One group of items has to do with the construction of the new Biblioteca Nazionale in Florence during the 1930s; there are several architects' proposals in this group.
Individuals represented are: Giuseppe Giusti, Adolfo Venturi, Giuseppe Boffito, Luca Beltrami, Raffaello (S), Alvise Cornari (S), Fra Giovanni Giocondo (S), Giuseppe Poggi (S), Battista Covo (S), Jacobo Sansovino (S), Giovanni di Lapo (S), Giuseppe Segusini (S), and Antonio Averlino, "Il Filarete" (S).
There are numerous areas of overlap in connection with this group. Only items strictly having to do with architectural subjects are included in it; for example, for descriptions of buildings that focus more on the history or on the art inside, one should look under "Art, Italian," or "Italy -- History." One can also try "Italy -- Description and Travel" for tourist-oriented publications such as guides to towns or palaces. Some related pamphlets may also be found in the "Italy -- Politics and Government" series if the focus is on a government project, particularly if it is propagandistic. For monuments erected in honor of particular individuals, look under "Biography" and use that person's name. Pamphlets related to monuments erected in honor of historical events will be found under "Italy -- History," or "World War, 1914-1918", and so on.
This series includes 797 items including pamphlets, clippings, and periodicals, with many illustrated materials.
The areas of Italian art most represented are painting and sculpture; there are also numerous pamphlets on religious art and manuscript illuminations.
Individuals represented are: Luca Beltrami, Adolfo Venturi, Mario Salmi, Leonardo Da Vinci (S), Michelangelo (S), Giotto (S), Lorenzo di Credi (S), Botticelli (S), Sem Benelli (S), Andrea del Verrocchio (S), Giorgio Vasari (S), and many others.
Only items having to do with visual arts or art criticism are found here. One should turn to "Biography" for items related to a specific individual's life and works. For related topics, look under "Archaeology" or "Architecture." Again, some propagandistic works related to Fascism, for example, might be found under "Italy -- Politics and government," as this subject heading would reflect a more relevant and more specific area of interest to researchers rather than the general heading "Art, Italian."
For works concerning non-Italian art, one may search the "History" subject area.
BOOK REVIEW
This series includes 782 pamphlets. Not only are there pamphlets in this group which reflect the more traditional meaning of "bibliography" as a list of titles or works; there are also wider bibliographic subjects covered by this heading. The bibliographic issues included in this group are: librarianship; book history; the history of printing and the book trade; texts as material artifacts; catalogues of libraries (unless on a specific subject such as "Science"); and any general bibliographies which cannot be grouped under any other Mazzoni Collection subject heading. For a bibliography of the works of Galileo, for example, one would look in the item-level database under "Science -- Italy," or under the combined search terms of "Biography" and "Galileo."
The most important materials in this grouping are pamphlets related to the printing industry in Italy, catalogues of various large and small libraries, a few rare book catalogues, and pamphlets discussing issues of librarianship in nineteenth-century Italy.
Individuals represented include: Guido Mazzoni, Guido Biagi, Giuseppe Boffito, Luigi Pescetti, Aldo Manutio (S), Leonardo da Vinci (S), Galileo Galilei (S), Lucrezia Borgia (S), Caterina de' Medici (S),Isabella d'Este (S), Gabriele D'Annunzio (S), Giovanni Boccaccio (S), Tommaso Grossi (S), and Emilio Teza (S).
Related works can be found under more specific subject headings, such as "Church history" for bibliographies of writings on the Church, or for catalogues of works held by churches rather than secular institutions.
SEEMS TO BE REVIEWS OF ITEMS NEWLY PUBLISHED CIRCA 1833; PERHAPS THEY ARE FROM A CERTAIN LIBRARY
This series is the largest group of items in the Mazzoni Pamphlet Collection at 8,677 records. The formats include pamphlets, newspapers, clippings, periodicals, ornate volumes, funerary cards, commemorations, and broadsides. There are many illustrated pieces, namely portraits of the individuals in either engravings or photographs.
The pieces can give an in- depth view of not only the main events in that person's life, but also how a certain person was thought of or represented by others, particularly through the commemorative pieces. Because Mazzoni had so many contacts, one can trace the careers of many individuals, whether famous or minor figures, and view the ethos of a whole generation of academics, writers, artists, and politicians.
The individuals represented are too numerous to mention. However, it must be noted that there are more materials on Giosue Carducci than any other individual in the collection -- easily hundreds of items, including many obituary clippings and memorial pieces. Other important individuals who are the subjects of biographies include: Giacomo Leopardi, Alessandro Manzoni, Giuseppe Verdi, Francesco Petrarca, and Giuseppe Garibaldi. Of importance are numerous dedicatory pieces offered to reigning nobility from the Napoleonic era onward into the early twentieth century; these personages include King Vittorio Emanuele II, Napoleon III, and Marguerite of Savoy.
Not included in the sub-collection "Biography" are items having to do with family genealogies or histories: these can be found under "Italy -- History," or "History." Other exceptions occur when an item's value as a cultural artifact supercedes its importance as a record of someone's life events. For example, an unknown professor's legal defense statement is not so important as a record of an event in his life, but as a record of how a profession conceived of itself in the courts; thus, it is placed under "Education." If that professor, however, were Carducci, then of course that person's stature would supercede any other aspect.
Also not included under "Biography" are diaries and memoirs whose overall focus is a very specific historical event or period of importance (events during the Unification of Italy, for example).
