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Creator
Macmillan & Co.
Call number
MssCol 1830
Physical description
91 linear feet (130 boxes); 1 microfilm reel; 8 microfilm reels; 1 microfilm reel
Language
Materials in English
Preferred Citation

Macmillan Company records, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

Collection consists of correspondence and author files of the Macmillan Company. General correspondence, 1892-1914, contains letters from authors, publishers, booksellers, paper manufacturers, literary agents, as well as internal correspondence from editors, agents, field representatives, and academic book reviewers. Much of the correspondence deals with the publication of scholarly works and textbooks in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and religion. Foreign correspondence, 1898-1914, includes letters to and from publishers and literary agents, mostly in Great Britain. Correspondence with Macmillan & Co. in London, 1891-1915, concerns publishing plans, negotiations for British and American editions of various works, copyright matters, etc. George Platt Brett, Sr.'s letterbooks consist of his outgoing letters from 1889 to 1907. Other letterbooks are of Kate Stephens, Children's Dept., 1898-1900, and the Subscription Dept., 1901-1902. Author files, 1894-1960, contain personal and business correspondence of Macmillan's major authors, their literary agents, legal counsel, and families with the Bretts and Macmillan editors. In addition to letters, the files often include memoranda, contracts, typescripts, press releases and publicity materials, legal records, press clippings, or photographs. The most extensive files in this series concern the publication of works such as Gone With the Wind, Forever Amber and the Cyclopedia of American Agriculture.

Biographical/historical information

The Macmillan Company, one of the largest publishing companies in the United States, was founded in 1869 as a branch in New York City of the British firm of Macmillan & Co., Ltd. of London. The Macmillan brothers sent George Edward Brett from Scotland to establish the American outlet. In 1890 his son, George Platt Brett (1859-1936) became president of the company and guided it to independence in 1896. Nevertheless, the British firm maintained close ties and a strong financial interest in the company. As agent for Macmillan & Co., Ltd., Cambridge University Press, and several other British publishers, Macmillan grew into "the colossus of American publishing". The Macmillan Company attracted major American authors and published a wide variety of fiction, non-fiction, textbooks, reference works, and children's books. George Platt Brett, Jr. who became Macmillan's president in 1931, arranged for the publication of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind which became a blockbuster bestseller for the firm. Macmillan Company merged with the Crowell - Collier Publishing Company in 1960 as a subsidiary and in 1973 the name was changed to Macmillan Publishing Company.

Scope and arrangement

The collection consists of correspondence and author files of the Macmillan Company. General correspondence, 1886-1914, contains letters from authors, publishers, booksellers, paper manufacturers, literary agents, as well as internal correspondence from editors, agents, field representatives, and academic book reviewers. Much of the correspondence deals with the publication of scholarly works and textbooks in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and religion. Foreign correspondence, 1898-1914, includes letters to and from publishers and literary agents, mostly in Great Britain.

Correspondence with Macmillan & Co. in London, 1891-1915, concerns publishing plans, negotiations for British and American editions of various works, copyright matters, etc. George Platt Brett, Sr.'s letter books consist of his outgoing letters from 1889 to 1907. Other letter books are of Kate Stephens, Children's Dept., 1898-1900, and the Subscription Dept., 1901-1902. The author files, 1894-1960, contain personal and business correspondence of Macmillan's major authors, their literary agents, legal counsel, and families with the Bretts and Macmillan editors. In addition to letters, the files often include memoranda, contracts, typescripts, press releases and publicity materials, legal records, press clippings, or photographs.

The most extensive files in this series concern the publication of works such as Gone With the Wind, Forever Amber and the Cyclopedia of American Agriculture. Other series consist of letters from prominent persons and pamphlets and poems printed for copyright purposes.

The Macmillan Company records are arranged in nine series:

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The Macmillan Company, 1963-1964

Processing information

Compiled by Melanie Yolles, October 1986, Revised and updated October 1996

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328

Access restrictions

Margaret Mitchell author files available on microfilm only.

Alternative form available

Selected materials available on microfilm; New York Public Library