{"value"=>"Hudson Maxim (1853-1927) was an American inventor, mechanical engineer and explosives expert. He worked as a consultant for the Du Pont Company from 1897 to 1927 and wrote books on explosives and literary and political matters. Collection consists of correspondence; typescripts of speeches, books and articles; patent materials; legal documents; family papers; photographs; and printed matter. Papers document Maxim's career as an inventor and explosives expert; experiments with soybeans and other foods; anti-Prohibition activities; involvement with Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, local affairs; and family and personal life. Bulk of correspondence dates from last few years of Maxim's life, 1925-1927, and concerns his personal and professional activities. Also, speeches delivered by Maxim, 1907-1927; notes, reports, correspondence, blueprint maps, and charts relating to explosion sites and damage; legal documents, ca. 1911-1925; correspondence with canning companies, seed merchants, and state and federal agriculture departments, 1917-1918, concerning his experiments with the preparation and canning of various foods, particularly soybeans; drafts of an autobiography and other writings, ca. 1880s-1920s; and anti-Prohibition speeches, articles and letters to newspaper editors, with related clippings and printed materials, 1920s. Includes photographs of Maxim's friends, family and homes; papers relating to family and personal matters; specifications for his patents, 1880s-1910s; correspondence, minutes and legal documents, 1915-1925, of the Maxim Munitions Corp.; and account books, scrapbooks, address books, autograph album, patent information, and printed matter."}
{"value"=>"<p> Maxim, an inventor and explosives expert, began working with explosives during the late 1880s. His inventions included Maximite, a high explosive; Stabilite, a smokeless powder; Motorite, a nitroglycerine compound for driving torpedoes; a magnetic mine developed during World War One; and a delay action detonating fuse, among others. Some of these were bought by the E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company for whom Maxim worked as a consultant from 1897 until his death; others by the United States government.</p> <p> Maxim's early career included a period during the 1880s as a printer and publisher with a partner, Alden Knowles, in Ohio and Pittsfield, Mass. He also served, from 1888-1891, as the American representative for the Maxim-Nordenfeldt Guns and Ammunition Co., Ltd., an English company run by his brother, Hiram Stevens Maxim, inventor of the Maxim Automatic Gun. Hiram S. Maxim's son, Hiram Percy Maxim, was the inventor of the Maxim Silencer.</p> <p> Maxim lectured and wrote books and articles on a wide variety of topics. While war and explosives were his main subjects, Maxim also expressed opinions on poetry, women's rights (which he was for), and prohibition (against). His books included: Real Pen-Work Self-Instructor in Penmanship, with Alden Knowles, 1881; The Science of Poetry and the Philosophy of Language, 1910; Defenseless America, 1915; and Dynamite Stories, 1916.</p> <p> Maxim was an enthusiastic cook, and carried out experiments with soybeans, the results of which he canned and attempted to market.</p> <p> Maxim's first marriage produced one son and ended in divorce. His second marriage, to Lilian Durban, an Englishwoman, took place in 1896. After his second marriage Maxim and his wife lived in Brooklyn and, during the summers, at Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, where they were active in local affairs.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p> The bulk of Maxim's papers date from the 1890s through 1927, the year of his death, and consist of correspondence; photographs, typescripts of speeches, books, and articles; patent specifications; recipes; account books; address books; and legal and other documents. These document his career as an inventor and explosives expert, experiments with soybeans and other foods, anti- Prohibition activities, involvement with Lake Hopatcong local affairs, and family and personal life.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Hudson Maxim papers are arranged in twelve series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1918#c1324443'>I. Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1890-1927</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> A small section of early correspondence, 1890-1926, is divided-probably by Maxim himself or by his secretary-into categories: miscellaneous, personal, \"good letters not sent\", \"amusing\", and \"important\". The bulk of the correspondence dates from the last few years of Maxim's life, 1925-1927. Included are letters received by Maxim, and drafts and copies of letters he wrote concerning a wide range of topics. These include: his books and speeches; legal, financial, and real estate matters; family and household matters; Lake Hopatcong local affairs; the Hotel Durban, which was on Maxim's property at Lake Hopatcong; anti - Prohibition activities; and other professional, personal, and a vocational activities. His correspondents were friends, professional contacts, members of his own and his wife's family, admirers, employees, tradesmen, and others. Included are letters from: Luther Burbank, Gutzon Borglum, Francis I. du Pont, Lillian Gish (responding to his biography, 1925), his nephew Hiram Percy Maxim, Margaret Sanger (refusing a weekend invitation, 1925), Frank A. Tichenor, and George Sylvester Viereck.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1918#c1324467'>II. Speeches</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1907-1927</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> Typescript speeches and outlines of speeches delivered by Maxim, 1907-1927. He spoke on aviation, explosives, Lake Hopatcong, the Morris Canal investigation, pacifism, poetry, politics, prohibition, war, women's rights, and a variety of other topics. See the index to speeches.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1918#c1324473'>III. Explosions</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>circa 1911-1920</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> Notes, reports, correspondence, blueprint maps and charts showing explosion sites and damage, and legal documents, ca. 1911-1925. These document experimental explosions carried out by Maxim, and accidental ones he studied, particularly the explosion of a T. N. T. magazine at the Hercules Powder Co., Kenvil, New Jersey, 1918 (including photographs of the site), and the Black Tom explosions in New York Harbor, 1916. Transcripts of Maxim's testimony on behalf of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company in the legal cases resulting from the Black Tom explosions are included.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1918#c1324474'>IV. Food</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1917-1924</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> Maxim's correspondence with canning companies, seed merchants, and state and federal agriculture departments, 1917-1918, concerning his experiments with the preparation and canning of various foods, particularly soybeans. Also included are recipes, unused labels for Maxim's Baked-Bean-Butter, typescript copy for labels, and printed material, 1910s-1920s.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1918#c1324477'>V. Writings</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>circa 1880-1920s</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> Typescript drafts of an autobiography, parts of which were incorporated into Hudson Maxim: Reminiscences and Comments, by Clifton Johnson, pub. 1924; correspondence, 1910-1923, concerning The Science of Poetry and the Philosophy of Language with mailing lists of people to whom the book was sent; typescript drafts of Maxim's Primer of Science (probably not published) with related notes, clippings, and printed material, 1889-1921. Also included are copies of Maxim's letters to newspaper editors on various topics, 1919-1922; poems; and other writings, ca. 1880s-1920s. Anti-Prohibition speeches, articles, and letters to newspaper editors, with related clippings and printed material, 1920s, are included.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1918#c1324486'>VI. Maxim Munitions Corp</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1918#c1324488'>VII. Patent Specifications</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1880s-1910s</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> Specifications for Maxim's patents, 1880s-1910s. Also, a small file containing correspondence, minutes, and legal documents, 1915-1925, of the Maxim Munitions Corp.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1918#c1324489'>VIII. New Jersey affairs and personal matters</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> Correspondence, legal and tax documents, and minutes, 1891-1919, of the Byram Cove Land Co., an organization that bought and sold real estate at Lake Hopatcong, of which Hudson and Lilian Maxim were directors; correspondence with the Colonial Motion Picture Company, 1914, and a list of shareholders (Maxim was one); an inventory of the Hotel Durban, 1909; correspondence, ca. 1899-1900 concerning his efforts to obtain patents in foreign countries for the Maxim Powder Torpedo; Maxim's correspondence, with related documents, 1913-1921, as President of the Inter-Municipal Park Commission, advocating the abandonment of the Morris Canal in New Jersey; and Christmas cards made by the Maxims, 1913-1921.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1918#c1324497'>IX. Photographs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>circa 1890s-1930s</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> Twelve photograph albums (three postcard albums have been taken apart) kept by Hudson and Lilian Maxim contain snapshots, full-sized photographs, and photographic postcards dating from the turn of the century through the 1930s. Many of these show the Maxims with friends and family members at their house at Lake Hopatcong. Included is a large group of photographic postcards showing both town and lakeside views of Lake Hopatcong, ca. 1900s-1920s. These were removed from two postcard albums labeled \"Souvenir of Lake Hopatcong\". Early twentieth century interior and exterior views of the Maxims' houses at 891 Sterling Place and 698 St. Mark's Avenue in Brooklyn are also included.</p> <p> Photographs include many portraits of Hudson and Lilian Maxim, and show Hudson Maxim working in his laboratory; cooking; boating; driving his car; boxing; playing tennis; costumed as Neptune at an Atlantic City, New Jersey pageant, 1921 and 1922; at an aviation meet in Asbury Park, New Jersey, 1910; and with the United States Naval Consulting Board, (called the Civilian Advisory Board at the time of the photograph), 1915. This photograph shows, among others. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, Assistant Secretary Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Maxim, and Thomas Edison.</p> <p> Portraits of Luther Burbank, and photographs of poet Edwin Markham and poet and western scout J. W. (Captain Jack) Crawford with the Maxims at Lake Hopatcong are included.</p> <p> One album contains late nineteenth century tintype and cabinet card portraits of Maxim family members. Photographs post-dating Hudson Maxim's death document the activities of his widow.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1918#c1324500'>X. Account Books</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>circa 1900s-1930s</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> Six account books contain both household and business accounts, ca. 1900s-1930s. Included are accounts of the Hotel Durban, 1908, and accounts Maxim kept with the U. S. Naval Consulting Board and with the du Pont Company. Also, two address books; an album containing calling cards gathered by Maxim, with notes; three books published by Maxim and Knowles in Pittsfield, 1880s; four memorandum and sketch books; a scrapbook containing clippings concerning Hiram Maxim's Maxim-Nordenfeldt Guns and Ammunition Co., 1880s, and clippings of advertisements for beauty products; an autograph album belonging to Lilian Maxim (including an autograph from Edwin Markham); a date book containing notes on the last few months of Maxim's life, 1927; a volume containing published specifications for patents held by Hiram Stevens Maxim; two volumes listing articles and pamphlets, possibly owned by Hudson Maxim; two volumes containing clippings and reprints of articles by or about Hudson Maxim; and a volume listing Hudson Maxim's patents and patent applications.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1918#c1324501'>XI. Other volumes</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/1918#c1324513'>Hudson Maxim Papers Additions</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1888-1905, 1911-1925</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>52 ab, 2 rc</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> Correspondence and papers relating to Maxim's inventions; the Maxim gun and the Maxim Munitions Corp.; Maxim's opposition to Prohibition; the proposed abandonment of the Morris Canal; the Borough of Hopatcong and lands on Lake Hopatcong; the canning and merchandising of beans and other foodstuffs; the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce; Maxim's articles; and his book, Science of Poetry and the Philosophy of Language.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}