The Earl J. Hamilton Papers span the years from 1350 to 1995, with Hamilton's research notes and other materials dating chiefly from the 1930s to the 1970s. (Note: Early dates reflect original dates of primary sources rather than the dates on which the photocopies of these sources were created.) Hamilton was a pioneer in the field of quantitative economic history during a career that spanned fifty years. Together with his wife, Gladys Dallas Hamilton, he conducted important research during the 1930s and 1940s on the history of the South American and Spanish economies; the history of American, Spanish, and French banking; the history of John Law and the "Mississippi Bubble" and its effect on European economies; and prices and wages in medieval Spain. Correspondence from Earl Hamilton in the 1980s remarked how essential Gladys Hamilton was as a partner for his research and writing during his career.
Published works represented in the collection include Money, Prices, and Wages in Valencia, Aragon, and Navarre, 1351-1500; American Treasure and the Price Revolution in Spain, 1501-1660; and War and Prices in Spain, 1651-1800. There is also a copy of Hamilton's dissertation (1929).
The collection includes not only extensive background notes for Hamilton's major books and articles, but also over 200 original legajos and other documents pertaining to Spanish trade and economic development, dating primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries. Other primary source materials from the 14th to the 18th centuries are also abundant (chiefly in the form of photostats and transcripts), including hundreds of copies of documents held by the Archivo del Banco de España, the Archivo Histórico Nacional, and other archives in Europe.
Photocopies and microfilm copies of items which belong to other libraries and archives may require permission of the owner institution to further reproduce or publish. Users making further copies for their own research do so at their own discretion. Before publication of any such material, it is the user's responsibility to identify the original source and obtain permission.
The collection also contains drafts and reprints of research papers, and numerous folders of academic and personal correspondence. Some documents in the collection are in French or Spanish.
Note that the early dates given in collection and series titles reflect the dates of the original primary source material that Hamilton used for his research, not the date when the photostat, photocopy or transcription was created.
