Collections in Manuscripts and Archives Division

George Bancroft (1800-1891) was an American historian, diplomat and public official who wrote the ten-volume History of the United States. Bancroft's positions included Collector of the Port of Boston, Secretary of the Navy under Polk, Minister to Great Britain from 1846 to 1849, and Minister to Germany from 1867 to 1874. In addition to History of the United States, Bancroft wrote other historical studies and biographies. Collection consists of transcripts (and some originals) of letters, dispatches, statistical data, journals, minutes of proceedings, and other papers culled from American, British and European sources by George Bancroft in the course of research for his historical works. Bulk of the collection reflects the economic, political, military, and diplomatic relations between Great Britain and its North American colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly the period leading up to the American Revolution of 1775-1783, the war itself, and the immediate aftermath of the war culminating in the writing and adoption of the U.S. Constitution. There are materials on the presidencies of George Washington and James K. Polk, and the 1872 dispute between Great Britain and U.S. over the water boundary between the U.S. and British Columbia. Also, records dealing with relations in the 18th century between the U.S. and continental European countries, and various European countries with each other (especially Prussia, Austria, France, Spain, and Great Britain). less

Charles Currier Beale (1864-1909), a collector of shorthand manuscripts and printed materials, founded and operated the Beale Shorthand Bureau and School of Phonography in Boston between 1884 and 1908. Collection consists of materials concerning American and English shorthand systems and also manuscripts written in shorthand which were acquired by Beale. Types of manuscripts include Bibles from the 18th and 19th centuries, sermons and prayer books; works by various authors; accounts of court trials; and other works transcribed in shorthand. Also, some correspondence, 1899-1907, and bibliographies of books about shorthand and books written in shorthand. less

George Chalmers (1742-1825) was a British historian, civil servant, and author. Born in Scotland, he emigrated to Maryland in 1763. He was a lawyer in Baltimore until the American Revolutionary War broke out, when he left for England. Chalmers held the positions of chief clerk for the Committee of the Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations, and colonial agent for the Bahamas. He wrote on historical, political and economic topics, many concerning the American colonies, and collected a large library of books and manuscripts. The George Chalmers collection, dated 1606-1817, consists of materials relating to the North American British colonies of Canada, the Carolinas, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and West Florida, including letters, documents and maps. Also present are papers relating to the Indians in North America, and two variant manuscripts of Chalmers' history of the revolt of the American colonies. less

The portion of the Emmet Collection housed in the Manuscripts and Archives Division consists of approximately 10,800 historical manuscripts relating chiefly to the period prior to, during, and following the American Revolution. The collection contains letters and documents by the signers of the Declaration of Independence as well as nearly every prominent historical figure of the period. less

William Bradhurst Osgood Field and his family were prominent members of New York City and Lenox, Massachusetts society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Field was an avid book collector, gentleman farmer, and philanthropist who sat on the boards of many organizations, both commercial and charitable, and was a member of over twenty clubs and societies. The collection consists of family, personal, and office correspondence; financial documents; diaries; genealogical records; educational materials; photographs; and ephemera documenting the family's commercial, philanthropic, and social activities from 1897 to 1934. less

Collection reflects Gregg's career as an inventor, educator and publisher of Gregg Shorthand and related commercial education material. Collection is composed of Gregg Publishing Company records, Light-Line Phonography Company records and John Gregg's personal file. Records of the Gregg Publishing Company, 1893-1963, contain domestic records, foreign records, documents, writings, galley proofs, and printed material. Subjects include Gregg shorthand, Gregg shorthand manuals, business education, competition from rival shorthand systems and the company's participation in the Panama-Pacific Exposition (1915). Noted employees include H.L. Carrad, Louis A. Leslie, Rupert P. Sorelle and W.W. Renshaw. There are a few records of Light-Line Phonography Company, 1885-1897, which covers the period before the establishment of the Gregg Publishing Company. less

Edward Stephen Harkness (1874-1940) was a trustee of the New York Public Library. His wife and co-collector, Mary Stillman Harkness, died in 1950. Collection consists of holograph manuscripts, autograph letters, documents, and signatures representing artists and literary and historical figures. Includes 15th-century illuminated Book of Hours and letters and documents of all American presidents from Washington to Franklin D. Roosevelt, except for Herbert Hoover. Items are accompanied by typed transcripts, portrait photographs and illustrations, and related letters, clippings and other materials. Persons represented include Shirley Brooks, Frances H. Burnett, Thomas Carlyle, Walter Crane, George Cruikshank, General Henry Dearborn, Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Marie Louise, Empress of France, Mary, Queen of Scots, Edgar Allan Poe, Joseph Conrad, John Ruskin, William M. Thackery, Henry D. Thoreau, Samuel Clemens, George Washington, John G. Whittier, and Captain Isaac Woods. less

John Milton (1608-1674) was an English poet. He composed sonnets and epic poetry including Paradise Lost, and also wrote tracts concerning political and social issues. Collection consists of one letter from Milton to Carlo Dati (1647 April), Dati's draft reply to Milton (1647 November), papers relating to Milton and his family, correspondence of Charles Symons concerning his biography of Milton, facsimiles of Milton documents, and related correspondence and printed material. Milton family records include papers of his wife, Elizabeth, and her family, and his daughters, Anne and Mary. less