Series II. Correspondence, 1857-1982

The Correspondence series was kept largely in its original arrangement. Generally, this was by subject matter, but there is a great deal of overlap in content among the sections of correspondence.

The series opens with the so-called shareholder correspondence, which includes letters about transfers, orders, and other matters; these files are arranged in shareholder number order. Files numbered 1001 and higher, which refer to certificates issued because of transfers of ownership, often hold the original shareholder's correspondence and certificate. These are followed by correspondence concerning offers of and orders for publication volumes number 15 through 61, with gaps; some of these letters also refer to transfers and matters other than orders.

Orders are followed by two sets of files concerning exchanges of publications with other institutions. The second set is designated as "obsolete" in the container list, which was a notation on the original folders and was transcribed here. These are presumably those institutions with which exchanges were ended.

Exchanges are followed by general (originally called "miscellaneous") correspondence folders, which are arranged chronologically, and also concern orders, exchanges, and other shareholder matters as above. In addition to the folders of letters, the general correspondence files include one album of letters.