Series II. Letterpress Copybooks, 1876-1911, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents Note
The Letterpress Copybooks series is comprised of five bound volumes containing copies of the New-York Historical Society's outgoing mail between the years of 1876 and 1913, chiefly written by the Librarian as well as other N-YHS officers; two additional volumes contain the correspondence of Magazine of American History editor and founder John Austin Stevens for the full year of 1878 and November-December of 1879. The letters are recorded in chronological order, with individual pages containing one to two letters. Registers in the front of the letter books offer accurate lists of recipients recorded alphabetically by last name, alongside the page numbers of relevant correspondence.
The general materials appear relatively comprehensive for the 1870s and 1880s, which also frequently feature formal correspondence directed between N-YHS officers, and the 1900s; copies of outgoing mail were less consistently maintained in other years. Series content commonly mirrors the General Correspondence files of Series III, consisting of answers to research, library operations, and membership inquiries; responses to acquisitions proposals and suggestions; acknowledgments of receipt of materials; arrangements for events and publications; and notifications of elections, appointments, resolutions, meetings, lectures, and other N-YHS committee activity. The Stevens copybooks concern various facets of magazine production such as contributor solicitation, research, and more.
Notes for each volume identify frequent and/or notable correspondents, as applicable, and break down the page ranges by year for general correspondence copybooks, to provide researchers with a sense of scope for time periods of interest. The letter book registers may serve as a potential guide to the General Correspondence files for researchers interested in specific correspondents, as they may suggest time frames in which people were in communication with N-YHS.
Arrangement Note
The series includes seven volumes, in chronological order.
Processing Information Note
The series was processed by archivist Brynn White. Conservation work for the volumes, including custom-made housing, was done by conservator Janet Lee.
Letter Book., 1876-1881
Scope and Contents Note
Frequent correspondents include Erastus Benedict, Charles W. Baird, Samuel L. Boardman, Henry H. Browne, Jeremiah Colburn, E.B. Coley, Samuel W. Francis, William Henry Hurlbert, Charles P. Kirkland, Juo W.M. Lee, William Beach Lawrence, Amos Perry, Eugene Revillout, Rev. Ebenezer Rogers, J.H. Trumbull, H.C. Van Schaack, Justin Winsor, and former N-YHS Librarian George H. Moore.
Date ranges by page number
1876 November-December: 1-20
1877: 21-275
1878: 276-368
1879: 368-468
1880: 469-610
1881 January-September: 611-693
The associated register for the letterpress book is detached and stored in a folder in the box with the volume.
Letter Book. Magazine of American History, 1878
Scope and Contents Note
Frequent correspondents include James Carson Brevoort, John Russell Bartlett, Charles W. Baird, John Chester Buttre, Joseph J. Cooke, Thomas Addis Emmet, George W. Green, George Geddes, Henry A. Homes, Henry Cabot Lodge, Orasmus Holmes Marshall, Theodorus Bailey Myers, George C. Mason, J.C. Mamau(?), William H. Newton, R.E. Nelson, Photo Engraving Co., George Henry Preble, R.M Potter, James H. Rogers, R.S. Robertson, William L. Stone, L.H. Shreve, Henry Cruger Van Schaack, H.C. Wickes, and Ella B. Washington.
Letter Book. Magazine of American History, 1878
Scope and Contents Note
All letters addressed in November and December of 1879. Frequent correspondents include T.F. Donnelly, Photo Engraving Co., James A. Rogers,and James H. Teevau(?).
Letter Book., 1881-1888
Scope and Contents Note
Frequent correspondents include Frederick Cook, Ellen Kemble, Luther R. Marsh, Royal Phelps, G.D. Scull, Moses Coit Tyler, and George Cabot Ward.
Date ranges by page number
1881 October-December: 1-63
1882: 64-236
1883: 236-348
1884: 349-452
1885: 453-551
1886: 552-667
1887: 667-682
1888 January-March: 683-702
Letter Book., 1888-1907
Scope and Contents Note
Frequent correspondents include William R. Huntington, William B. Isham, Frank B. Kelly, and Lewis S. Patrick.
Date ranges by page number
1888 April-December: 1-40
1889: 41-86
1890: 87-93
1891: 94-107
1892: 108-122
1893: 123-128
1894: 129
1895: 130-133
1896: 134-137
1897: 138-141
1898: 142-146
1899: 148-178
1900: 178-197
1901: 198-226
1902: 227-313
1903: 313-479
1904: 480-558
1905: 559-626
1906: 627-677
1907 January-April: 677-692
The associated register for letters A-G from the letterpress book is detached and stored in a folder in the box with the volume.
Letter Book., 1907-1911
Scope and Contents Note
Frequent correspondents include V.D. Allen, Gerard Beekman, Mrs. Amos Draper, Stuyvesant Fish, Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission, Nelson Robinson, Herbert Satterlee, and John A. Weekes.
Date ranges by page number
1907 May-December: 1-34
1908: 35-118
1909: 119-266
1910: 267-428
1911 January-December: 429-698
Letter Book., 1911-1913
Scope and Contents Note
No notable frequent correspondents.
Date ranges by page number 1911 December: 1-3 1912: 4-43 1913: 44