- unitid
-
{"value"=>"4814", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"MssCol 4814", "type"=>"local_call"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"circa 1774-1995", "type"=>"inclusive", "certainty"=>"approximate", "normal"=>"1774/1995"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1774
- date_inclusive_end
-
1995
- keydate
-
1774
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. collection relating to Bowne & Co"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"10.86 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"28 boxes, 4 volumes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library. <span class=\"subarea\">Manuscripts and Archives Division</span></span> <div class=\"address\"><span class=\"addressline\">New York, New York</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The collection consists of miscellaneous corporate records of Bowne & Co., Inc., and papers relating to the Bowne family of Flushing, Long Island, N. Y., including original letters by Robert Bowne and other members of the Bowne and related families. The collection was assembled by Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. (1924 - ) a former president and chairman of Bowne & Co., Inc. during the course of his research for his books on the history of the firm."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. collection relating to Bowne & Co., Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Stanley, Edmund A., 1924-", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Bowne & Co., Inc. which is now located at 345 Hudson Street in New York City, was founded in 1775 by the merchant and Quaker, Robert Bowne (1744-1818), a descendant of John Bowne who emigrated to America from England in 1649. Farsighted and successful as a merchant, Robert Bowne participated in many of the notable achievements of his day including the founding of the Bank of New York, the Bank of America, and the planning of the Erie Canal.</p> <p>From its origins as a modest mercantile firm selling writing paper, printing materials and a variety of other merchandise including furs (Robert Bowne had been associated for a time with John Jacob Astor), Bowne & Co., Stationers, located on Queen Street (now Pearl) in Lower Manhattan gradually turned exclusively to financial printing in order to meet the growing demands of banks, insurance companies, and other businesses for commercial paper. Throughout most of the 19th century the firm had been headed by a member of the Bowne family. In 1898 the last Bowne to head the company (another Robert Bowne) relinquished control to Stanley M. Dewey. The latter hired in 1909 Edmund A. Stanley (Sr.), another emigrant from England (and father of Edmund A. Stanley, Jr.) who acceded to the presidency of Bowne & Co. in 1922, a post he held until his death in 1956. Throughout the elder Stanley's tenure Bowne & Co. had remained a modest-sized firm struggling with larger competitors for a share of the commercial printing market.</p> <p>When he joined his father's firm in 1949 following his graduation from Princeton (he had previously served in the infantry in W.W. II and had won the Bronze Star) Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. was surprised to learn that no account of the firm's corporate history had ever been made. He immediately began the task of researching the firm's history from its origins in the 18th century until the present, an activity which lasted for several decades and which resulted in the accumulation of a mass of original manuscript sources and genealogical data relating to the Bowne and related families, and a collection of miscellaneous corporate records reflecting the contemporary operations of the firm and his stewardship of it. These materials gradually formed the basis for Mr. Stanley's historical narratives published first in booklet form: 1775 Bowne & Co. 1952; and then in two letterpress editions: Since 1775...the Story of Bowne & Co. (New York, Bowne & Co., 1952); and Of Men and Dreams: the Story of the People of Bowne & Co. and the Fulfillment of Their Dreams in the Company's 200 years from 1775 to 1975 (New York, Bowne & Co., 1975).</p> <p>Although he was only thirty-two years old when he acceded in 1956 to the presidency and chairmanship of Bowne & Co., Inc. following his father's sudden death, Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. began the task of reorganizing and restructuring the firm to make it more efficient and competitive. In 1961 the firm moved from 163 Front Street where it had occupied six floors to a single floor in a modernized building at 345 Hudson St., thereby virtually doubling its work space. New equipment and the most modern printing presses were acquired and installed. Under Mr. Stanley's leadership the firm concentrated on serving all of the needs of the financial community including mergers, public offerings, and acquisitions. With its increased market share (its sales volume had doubled in five years) the firm was gradually able to buy out its major competitors. When Stanley retired in 1986, Bowne & Co., Inc. had become the largest corporate and financial printing firm in America, with a national and worldwide clientele. During his retirement at his estate in Oxford, Maryland, Mr. Stanley has continued his interest in philanthropic affairs. He has contributed generously to many non-profit institutions including WNET Channel 13 and the South Street Seaport Museum. In 1968 he established the Robert Bowne Foundation for the support of literacy programs for New York City's youth.</p>"}
- custodhist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The collection of records relating to Bowne & Co., Inc. and to the Bowne Family of Flushing, N. Y. was assembled over a period of forty years by Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. (1924- ), a former president and chairman of the board of Bowne & Co., Inc., the largest and oldest financial printing firm in New York. The bulk of the corporate records of Bowne & Co., Inc. remain in the custody of the firm.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The collection consists of miscellaneous corporate records of the printing firm of Bowne & Co., Inc. of New York City; and original 18th- 19th century manuscripts and genealogical papers relating to Robert Bowne (1744-1818), merchant of New York City and founder of the firm bearing his name, and other members of the Bowne and related families. The bulk of the collection (90%) consists of corporate records of Bowne & Co., Inc., including miscellaneous business correspondence and memoranda; miscellaneous documents relating to the firm's officers, employees and stockholders; samples of the firm's printing jobs from the 19th century to the 1990's; corporate minutes; annual reports; scrapbooks of corporate memorabilia; photographs of officers, employees, plant facilities and corporate ceremonies and events; pen and ink drawings of Bowne executives at work; books bearing the Bowne & Co. imprint; miscellaneous artifacts; and audio-visual materials.</p> <p>Included in the original manuscripts and genealogical papers are original letters by Robert Bowne (1744-1818) and his wife, Elizabeth Bowne, and other members of the Bowne and related families; miscellaneous family papers including mercantile documents; and correspondence, research notes and papers, biographical sketches and other papers relating mainly to the genealogy of the Bowne, Collins, Grinnell, Haines, Hartshorne and Minturn families.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. collection relating to Bowne & Co is arranged in two series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/4814#c756039'>Series I. Papers relating to the Bowne Family</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series is arranged into two subseries: A. Bowne Family Correspondence and Papers (originals and transcripts); and B. Genealogical and Historical Research Papers.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/4814#c756140'>Series II. Miscellaneous Corporate Records of Bowne & Co., Inc.</a></div>\n</li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. collection relating to Bowne & Co. are organized in the following series:</p> <ul class=\"list\"> <li>Series I. Papers relating to the Bowne Family</li> <li>Series II. Miscellaneous Corporate Records of Bowne & Co., Inc.</li></ul>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by Bowne & Co., Inc., 1995</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>The present inventory is based in part upon an inventory compiled in 1994 by Sally Brazil for internal use of the corporate staff of Bowne & Co., Inc. The arrangement of the correspondence in Series I which is only partially alphabetical by name of writer reflects the original arrangement of the 1994 inventory.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>Compiled by John Stinson.</p>"}
- extent_statement
-
10.86 linear feet (28 boxes, 4 volumes)
- date_start
-
1774
- date_end
-
1995