14327474Nicholas Publishing Company records14327474Rare Book and Manuscript Library

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This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-09 10:10:47 -0400.Description is written in: English, Latin script. Rare Book and Manuscript Library Nicholas Publishing Company records Nicholas Publishing Company Greenfield, Stanley R., 1925- 14327474 MS#1985 English . 0.42 Linear Feet 1 document box 1971-2003 Records documenting the sale to China of United State scientific and technical bibliographic materials in the 1970s. Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Rachel Greenfield, 2019.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

Biographical / Historical

Nicholas Publishing Company was founded by Stanley R. Greenfield in 1973. That year, Nicholas proposed to the People's Republic of China that it act as its acquiring book and document agent in the United States. From 1975-1979 Nicholas, as a registered foreign agent, was the sole representative of the PRC for the acquisition of all scientific and technical bibliographic materials from the United States, including serials, patents, US government documents, technical reports, juridical materials, and commercial databases. Nicholas performed its function with the concurrence of the White House, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Departments of State and Commerce.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Nicholas Publishing Company Records; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Content Description

The papers presented in this collection primarily contain Nicholas' correspondence with the aforementioned agencies of the US Government and the China National Publications Import Corporation (CNPIC). The orders Nicholas placed on behalf of the CNPIC, which averaged around 5,000 documents annually, were among the largest technical information purchases recorded by the Department of Commerce. One particular order, for example, was for the 10,000 microfiches (approximately 600,000 pages) of NASA documents from the 1960s. Nicholas' role in this large-scale information transfer was indispensable because at the time the US had not recognized the PRC, and all interaction between the two governments needed to go through private channels. After the two governments established formal diplomatic relations in 1979, CNPIC ceased placing orders through Nicholas and the relationship came to an abrupt stop.

Conditions Governing Use

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Curator of Manuscripts/University Archivist, Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML). The RBML approves permission to publish that which it physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

China -- Intellectual life -- 20th century China -- Foreign relations -- United States Negotiation in business -- China Technology transfer -- China Series I: CorrespondenceChina National Publications Import Corporation to Stanley R. Greenfield, Nicholas Publishing Company1974-198511Stanley R. Greenfield to China National Publications Import Corporation1974-199712Stanley R. Greenfield to Office of Science and Technology Policy17 July 197813Scope and Contents

(Item 30)

Stanley R. Greenfield to Ambassador Huang Hua27 October 197114Stanley R. Greenfield to Liu Chung-jen15 March 197415Stanley R. Greenfield to NTIS22 February 1977 & 18 October 197816George Meany to Stanley R. Greenfield10 July 197417Scope and Contents

(photocopy)

Department of State to Stanley R. Greenfield7 January 197418Stanley R. Greenfield to The New York Times19Miscellaneous correspondence1973-1983110Series II: TopicsInformation Transfer:"How and When Information Transfer to the People's Republic of China Began"111"A Proposal to the People's Republic of China"112Agreement between NTIS and Nicholas Publishing Company1977113A Proposal to China National Publications Import Corporation114"History of Stanley R. Greenfield's activities on behalf of China National Publications Import Corporation, 1874-1979 and inverted file preparation1980115Exhibits No. 1-30 regarding the operations of Nicholas Publishing Company116List of publications ordered by China National Publications Import Corporation1978117Statement on the relations between Nicholas Publishing Corporation and China National Publications Import Corporation12 December 1977118Visit by Members of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations to the Nicholas Publishing Company3 November 1977119Board of Expert AdvisorsFebruary 1974120Department of State. Memorandum of Conservation19 December 1973121"China's Man in Space, NASA Technology Based?"10 December 2003122Memoranda re. "Project Red Star"21 March 1972123Dial-A-Book (successor to Nicholas Publishing Company)124Purchase Orders125Biographical Information and FBI Freedom of Information Response:126Brief Biographical Background-Stanley R. Greenfield127FBI Freedom of Information reply128Clippings:Photocopies of article from The New York Times: "How U.S. Science Got To China Before '79"27 May 1986129