This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Business and personal correspondence of Shaw. There are letters from Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Co. to Shaw in the 1890s concerning the sale of arms and munitions to the Greek government, and letters from Basil Zaharoff, director of Maxim Nordenfelt and personal friend of Mr. Shaw; personal letters from Plato Draculis, Greek emigreĢ to England, a writer and some-time professor of Modern Greek at Oxford; letters from Stephen Skouloudis, Greek Prime Minister during World War I; and letters from various members of Shaw's family, friends, and business associates, written in Greek and Turkish. Of major interest in this collection is the material concerning Basil Zaharoff. This correspondence reveals much about his early career. Part of the collection also has a bearing on the international situation of Greece in a critical period. Also, transcripts of and typed quotations from various letters with other notes assembled by Plato E. Shaw for his father's biography.
Cataloged.
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This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); William Shaw letters; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Microfilm available of letters from Basil Zaharoff, Maxin Nordenfelt Co., and Stephen Skouloudis. MN#11920.
Source of acquisition--Shaw, Plato E. Method of acquisition--Bequest; Date of acquisition--1950. Accession number--M-50.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 09/--/89.
Shaw was an English "commercial merchant" from about 1860 to 1904. He was agent for a number of English companies in Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey, notably the Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Co., later known as Vickers Sons. The director of Maxin Nordenfelt was Basil Zaharoff, often called "the mystery man of Europe." One of the richest men in the world and a major international figure in munitions and finance during and after World War I, Zaharoff's origins have been shrouded in mystery.
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