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...
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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.
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