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Creator
Chalmers, George, 1742-1825
Call number
MssCol 507
Physical description
4.08 linear feet (2 boxes, 27 volumes, 2 oversized folders)
Preferred Citation

George Chalmers collection, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Sponsor
Digitization was made possible by a lead gift from The Polonsky Foundation.
Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

George Chalmers (1742-1825) was a British historian, civil servant, and author. Born in Scotland, he emigrated to Maryland in 1763. He was a lawyer in Baltimore until the American Revolutionary War broke out, when he left for England. Chalmers held the positions of chief clerk for the Committee of the Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations, and colonial agent for the Bahamas. He wrote on historical, political and economic topics, many concerning the American colonies, and collected a large library of books and manuscripts. The George Chalmers collection, dated 1606-1817, consists of materials relating to the North American British colonies of Canada, the Carolinas, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and West Florida, including letters, documents and maps. Also present are papers relating to the Indians in North America, and two variant manuscripts of Chalmers' history of the revolt of the American colonies.

Administrative information

Custodial history

This collection was originally part of the library of George Chalmers. When Chalmers died in 1825, the library was inherited by his nephew, James Chalmers, and kept intact until his death in 1841. James Chalmers' sister then sold the original Chalmers library to Messrs. Evans, dealers in London. A large portion was purchased by London bookseller Thomas Thorpe, and Colonel Thomas Aspinwall purchased a number of volumes pertaining to the American colonies from him in 1843. Samuel L. M. Barlow later purchased the Aspinwall volumes, which were purchased by the Lenox Library in 1890 after Barlow's death. The remainder of the volumes were purchased from the estate of George Bancroft in 1893.

Source of acquisition

Various purchases, 1890 and 1893

Processing information

Compiled by Casey Babcock, 2015

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

Alternative form available

Materials for Connecticut, Georgia, Indians, Nova Scotia, Carolina, and Virginia volume 1 are available on microfilm.