Scope and arrangement
The records of the magazine document all aspects of its operation and include correspondence, Circulation and Literary Department records, minutes and financial records and printed material. There are several series of correspondence.
The correspondence of the secretary-treasurer (name/subject file in period 1924-1936) is that of Henry A. Ritcher with advertisers, publishers, distributors, printers, illustrators, and cartoonists. Included is correspondence with American News Co., Condé Nast Publications, Charles E. Burchfield, Percy Crosby, and Edward William Bok. The permissions correspondence series is arranged alphabetically in period 1932-1936. It consists of Ritcher's correspondence with organizations and persons requesting permission to reprint copyrighted materials. The contracts and agreements series is arranged in serial order in period 1896-1936 and is provided with an alphabetical index. This series reflects the purchase and sale of artistic and literary properties, copyright matters, and foreign reproduction rights. This series Includes collateral correspondence mainly of William Krone and Henry A. Ritcher with Charles D. Gibson, the Century Co., Crowell Publishing Co., Coward-McCann, George H. Doran, Carey Printing Co., and P. V. Volland. The circulation department series consists of audit reports of circulation statistics, and records of issues returned by American News Co.
The literary department series consists of manuscripts, typescripts of poems, articles and humorous materials accepted by Life, and 9 volumes of records of manuscripts submitted to Life in period of 1911-1936. The Minutes series includes minutes of the board of directors and stockholders in period of 1892-1936. The financial records series includes vouchers, credit memoranda, balance sheets, and 47 volumes of ledgers, journals, and other accounts in period 1892-1936. The printed matter series consists of the sales department.