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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.

Personal, business, and legal letters; manuscripts including prose, poetry, and diaries; and documents including deeds, receipts, invoices, and account books. The 18th century materials focus on the personal and business correspondence of Calvin, Jotham, and Martin Gay, sons of Ebenezer Gay who were engaged in shipping between New England and the Maritime Provinces. There are occasional letters of Jotham and Martin referring to the American Revolution. The Otis family correspondence of the 18th century, likewise, is of a purely routine and personal nature. There are only four letters of Col. James Otis, and only two of his son, James. Gay and Otis family interests intertwine during the 19th century with the marriage of Mary Allyne Otis to Ebenezer Gay, who are among the chief correspondents of this century, along with their children including Sidney Howard Gay and Winckworth Allan Gay. The Otis correspondence centers around business, real estate, and personal interests of Mary A. Otis Gay's brothers John, Joseph, and William Otis.

Correspondence between William Samuel Johnson, 1727-1819, and his son Robert Charles Johnson, 1766-1806, concerning personal business in Connecticut and a father's advice to a young man entering his law career. Some of the father's letters of special interest were written during his term as U.S. Senator (1791), and some concern British-French trade relations, 1793. There are also copies of letters to Johnson from Cadwallader Colden, Silas Deane, James Duane, John Fitch, Jonathan Trumbull, and William Williams. Other letters have been added

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, and some miscellaneous printed materials. The bulk of the correspondence files, bound in sixteen volumes, deals with "..weights and measures, the textile tariff, and other subjects" for the period 1902-1929. There are three volumes of typescript copies (carbons) prepared from Dale's holograph diaries, 1887-1929, with an index in volume one. Among the manuscripts are the following: an account book kept by Samuel Dale of Carncastle, Ireland and Little Falls, N.Y., 1810-1834; and two volumes of Thomas Dale's accounts, Little Falls, N.Y., 183?-1856. These were written by Dale's grandfather and father respectively. There is also the minutes book of the American Metrological Society, 1873-1886 and an English tally stick dated 1377.

The professional and personal correspondence, papers, and pamphlet collection of Melvil Dewey, relating to libraries, the American Library Association, library classification, the Lake Placid Club, Columbia College, the New York State Library, and spelling reform. Included are notes for and a typescript of Grosvenor Dawe's biography of Dewey.

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, financial records, memorabilia, and printed materials. The papers relate to numerous organizations--social, political, civic, and philanthropic--with which he was associated. Among these organizations are Legal Aid Society; Prison Association of New York; Outdoor Recreation League; Socialist Democratic League and National Party; American Alliance for Labor and Democracy; Constitutional Democracy Association; National Security League; YMCA, etc. Included among the papers are his journals and diaries, 1884-1950. An incomplete set of his letterbooks 1905-1960 and some family papers relating to real estate and financial matters

Manuscript account books and documents which illustrate and document the history of accounting and business procedures from the 14th century into the 20th century. The earliest item is Ms. 18, a Papal bull relating to notaries and appointing Julius de Gentilibus as a notary; the latest is an invoice book from 1941. The types of volumes contained in this collection include instruction books, daybooks, waste books, journals, bank books, ledgers, receipt books, storage books, invoice books, registers, ships' logs, letter books, diaries, town books, tax roll books, articles of agreement, bills of sale, deeds, wills, and many other significant items. The material originated in many countries around the globe, and represents a range of business and occupations from household to trading company (e.g., English (East India Company) and French East Indian Company (Compagnie des Indes orientales) volumes), and from itinerant laborer to lawyer and physician. The majority of the manuscripts are English and American of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The earliest American account is Ms. 75, 1690-1730, Josiah Winslow, Plymouth, Mass.

Manuscripts by Payne, including plays, poems, journals, essays, account books, correspondence, letter books (to and from) including a large group of letters from Washington Irving. Also, pictorial material, scrapbooks, biographies, portraits, passports, and other documents; and materials on the Cherokee incident, 1835-1838, and Payne's arrest in Georgia. Other material include letters of various members of the Payne family and of related families. Of greatest interest is a group of fine letters and manuscripts of Eloise Richards Payne (1787-1819), a sister of the playwright. These present a sensitive and revealing portrait of the social, cultural, and political life of the time. Among the manuscripts and documents are many items of genealogical interest on the Paine, Shippen, Lynch, Luquer, and Lea families. Two boxes of the papers of Col. Thatcher Taylor Payne Luquer contain correspondence on various aspects of John Howard Payne's career, and on "An Unconscious Autobiography" the letters and diaries of William Osborn Payne (1783-1804), a brother of the playwright, edited by Col. Luquer.

Papers of Stillman include over 100 items pertaining to the business enterprises of his father, Charles Stillman of Brownsville, Texas, who was engaged in shipping and trade, real estate, and railroad investment. A large portion of the collection documents of James Stillman's activities in banking, in railroad financing, and in other of his business and industrial interests. The letters, legal documents, and miscellaneous papers are representative of the entire span of his career. Included in the correspondence are letters from many prominent financiers and industrialists of his day, including many from William Rockefeller; letters from President Grover Cleveland, some personal in nature and some concerned with business transactions; nine letter books of James Stillman, covering the years 1886-1897, 1906-1918; letter books of his secretary Miss K. Bredin, 1908-1916; journals for the years 1889, 1891, 1898, 1899; bank book recording Stillman's drafts, 1911-1914, on the London firm of Baring Brothers; four diaries, 1881-1884; six notebooks; one cash and journal and one ledger, 1868-1871.