Collections : [Rare Book & Manuscript Library]

Cotton's 15 nonconsecutive manuscript pocket diaries for the period from 1850 to 1877. The diaries outline his life and travels. The entries for the Civil War years are especially interesting. He often describes the capital's fear of enemy invasion, recent nearby incursions, troop movements, and the general preoccupation with all aspects of the war. He called on President Lincoln, attended his second inauguration, and notes the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation. He describes the capital's joyous mood at the fall of Richmond and the gloom over the assassination of Lincoln. He attended the military court to see the conspirators. Later volumes talk about Pension Bureau affairs and his health and that of his family.

Material gathered by Oswald Garrison Villard in the researches for his biography JOHN BROWN, 1800-1859: A BIOGRAPHY FIFTY YEARS AFTER. A large part of the materials is copies of correspondence both contemporary and of a later period, concerning John Brown and his associates, especially in the Kansas Territory and at the Harper's Ferry raid. Of the original letters in the collection, many are from descendants and family of John Brown and the men who accompanied him on his raid. There are clippings, pamphlets, proof sheets, and other printed matter. Photographs number 181 items.

Paul Harvey Aron (1921-1991) was an expert on Japanese investments and a historian of the Soviet Union. Researchers interested in the Japanese stock market, Japanese industry, American investment in Japan, and Japanese investment in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s will be particularly interested in Series I. But the bulk of these files pertain to Aron's academic career, and will be of greatest interest for researchers studying Russian and Soviet history—in particular, Soviet historians and historiography in the 1930s (the subject of Aron's unpublished dissertation, much of which is included in Subseries II.3).

The collection consists of manuscripts and documents. It includes a manuscript (16 p.) by Litvinov on the Civil War in Kiev in 1918; and a handwritten autobiography (36 p.) by Aleksandr Narkizovich Litvinov, a colonel in the Imperial Guard Izmailov Regiment (Leĭb-Gvardiĭ Izmaĭlovskiĭ Polk). Documents mostly concern Litvinov family history and span the years 1794-1918. Cataloged materials consist of two documents signed by Alexander I (1802, 1808), and one signed by Nicholas I (1834).

The papers consist of Skobelev's correspondence, manuscripts, documents, subject files, and printed materials. There are awards and documents of M. D. Skobelev, his father (Dmitrii Ivanovich), and his grandfather (Ivan Nikitich), both of whom were also generals. These documents include edicts signed by Russian Tsars Paul I, Alexander I, Nicholas I, and Alexander II, and by two Kings of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm IV and Wilhelm I. There are also patents of nobility, military service records, and documents related to various military campaigns including maps. The correspondence primarily dates from 1870-1890 and consists mainly of letters received by Mikhail Skobelev and copies of letters which he wrote. Also included are incoming and outgoing letters of D. I. Skobelev. The manuscripts include essays, notes, drafts, memos on military affairs by M. D. Skobelev and other authors. There are subject files with materials about M. D. Skobelev, including printed materials such as newspapers and clippings. There are also files with materials related to activity of the Komitet imeni General-Ad'iutanta M. D. Skobeleva dlia vydachi posobii poteriavshim na voine sposobnost' k trudu voinam, and Osobaia Komissia dlia obsuzhdeniia voprosov ob ustroistve voennago upravleniia.