Harper & Brothers Records, 1817-1929

Summary Information

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into five series.

• Series I: Authors--Correspondence, Contracts and Documents, 1826-1966
• Series II: Eugene Exman Research Materials, 1817-1973
• Series III: Printed Materials, 1851-1966
• Series IV: Visual Materials, 1919-1940s, undated
• Series V: Financial Records, 1833-1963
• Subseries V.1: Loose Correspondence and Documents, 1860-1963
• Subseries V.2: Ledgers and Financial Volumes, 1859-1943 Undated, 1859-1943, Undated
• Subseries V.3: Catalogues and Book Lists, 1833-1915

Description

Summary

The collection contains correspondence with the authors, including contracts signed with authors as well as negotiations with the authors over various aspects of publishing their works; financial records documenting many aspects of the operation of Harper & Brothers, including royalties paid to authors, records of stock offerings and company reorganizations, and general ledgers which contain daily notes on all aspects of the operation of the business; book catalogues and trade lists; research materials collected by Eugene Exman for his history of Harper & Brothers; visual materials, from drawings and photographs of Harper's authors to colophon designs and an oil painting of the original Harper's building.

• Series I: Authors--Correspondence, Contracts and Documents, 1826-1966

  Harper & Brothers' correspondence with their authors, consisting primarily of book contracts, but also authors' individual requests concerning the publication of their books is found here. This series also contains some personal correspondence of Brander Matthews, literary critic and professor at Columbia University, including a letter of congratulations from President Roosevelt and a fiery condemnation from Ezra Pound. It includes particularly significant amounts of material from William Dean Howells, George du Maurier, Lafcadio Hearn, and Lew Wallace. This series is arranged alphabetically by author.

• Series II: Eugene Exman Research Materials, 1817-1973

  This series is comprised of Eugene Exman's research on Harper & Brothers in preparation for his books, The Harper & Brothers and The House of Harper, undertaken during the 1960s. The primary dates in each section refer to the dates when the materials collected were composed, while any dates in brackets refer to the dates when the papers were compiled.

  Included in the series are notes, note-cards, article excerpts, documents, photographs and references, which relate to Harper's history. The folder "Office Layout" contains drawings of various Harper buildings and interviews with former employees regarding daily working conditions in the buildings. Exman's correspondence with Harper's regarding his research, financial records relating to collecting the books that ultimately became the Harper's library, interviews with Harper's employees, and responses to inquiries during his tenure as the Harper's archivist can also be found here. It also includes his collection of dinner invitations to company dinners.

  Much of the material is composed of photocopies made between 1960 and 1973

• Series III: Printed Materials, 1851-1966

  This brief series consists primarily of small books, often commemorative, and other realia dedicated to the memory of a long-time employee or celebrating one of the company's anniversaries.

• Series IV: Visual Materials, 1919-1940s, undated

  In this series are drawings and photographs of Harper & Brothers' authors and of the Harper Brothers themselves; colophon designs; an oil painting of the Harper & Brothers building on Franklin Square, and a poster advertising English Society by George Du Maurier.

• Series V: Financial Records, 1833-1963

  This series consists of financial documents, which record the yearly budgets of the publishing company, real estate and assets owned, salaries and royalties paid, debts taken on, and stock issued and sold, and trade lists and catalogues.

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Conditions Governing Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

The following boxes are located off-site: Volumes 1-61, 63-109, 111-219, 224-229, and 238. 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.

This collection has no restrictions.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Single photocopies 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.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Harper & Brothers Records; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Selected Related Material

A significant portion of the Harper & Brothers Records was microfilmed in 1980 by Chadwyck-Healey. The resulting 58 rolls of microfilm are available through several libraries, including the Columbia University Libraries: Archives of Harper & Brothers, 1817-1914 Microfilm

There are holdings of Harper & Brothers records at Princeton University, the Library of Congress, the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Pierpont Morgan Library. Princeton University's holdings include editorial and business correspondence, with the bulk of the material dating from 1939-1955. The Library of Congress holds the largest amount of materials relating to Harper's Magazine, primarily from the years 1940-1983. They also acquired a smaller collection of nineteenth century records from Yale University in 1981. The University of Texas has records of Harper's College Department, Medical Books Department, Social and Economic Books Department, and Harper's Magazine, with the bulk of the material dating from 1957-1959.

Accruals

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

Alternate Form Available

Hearn, Lafcadio letters are on: microfilm.

Materials in Series 1 before 1914 are on: microfilm.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source of acquisition--Harper & Row, Inc. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1975. Accession number--M-1975.

H. James letter to Duneka: Source of acquisition--2293B (Auerbach). Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--07/21/1999. Accession number--M-99-07-21.

Gift of Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 1975, 1989& 1990.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Processed HR 06/--/1982.

Processed Sarah Ponichtera, GSAS 2010 2007.

Finding aid written Sarah Ponichtera, GSAS 2010 2007.

H. James letter to Duneka Cataloged HR 06/30/2000.

Revision Description

2013-06-06 xml document instance created by Carrie Hintz

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

History

J. & J. Harper was founded in 1817 by James and John Harper, using family funds. Brothers Wesley and Fletcher joined the family business in 1823 and 1825, respectively. Due to their early adoption of stereotyping technology, by 1825 they had become the largest volume publisher in New York City. In these early years, the majority of their titles were reprinted English books. Like other publishers of the time, Harper employees would wait on the docks to purchase books published in England, and republish them at a discount, a practice enabled by the cheaper materials available in America and the lack of international copyright law. During the depression of the 1830s, Harper & Brothers hit upon the idea of increasing sales by packaging many titles together in a series of great books. The Harper's Family Library was the first of these series, and a great success. Contemporary figures had strong attitudes regarding the series: John Quincy Adams praised it for helping to educate citizens in what they needed to know to participate in a democracy, but Henry Thoreau protested its attempt to shape American literary taste.

In 1833 the firm's name was officially changed to Harper & Brothers. The social influence of the family grew, and in 1844, James Harper was elected major of New York. The firm continued to grow until in 1853 a devastating fire destroyed the Harper building and everything in it, excepting only the most important records which were kept in an iron vault. The saved documents include the ledgers and contracts which form the heart of this collection. Despite not having adequate insurance (publishing companies found it almost impossible to insure their property, due to the crowded conditions and flammable chemicals which their work entailed) Harper & Brothers decided to rebuild, and opened a new location on Franklin Square.

Throughout the nineteenth century, Harper & Brothers was involved in attempts to set up a system of international copyright that would serve their interests. After the Civil War, the trade balance had changed, with paper products and costs of production now greater in the United States than in England, and Harper & Brothers used their political clout to prevent legislation that would have allowed the British to compete with American publishers.

During the 1880s, Harper & Brothers grew to its maximum size and influence. At this time Harper & Brothers handled a volume of $4 million annually, with over 800 employees. They published the greatest authors of the generation, including Mark Twain, William Dean Howells, and sometimes Henry James. Harper also had significant breadth of influence, having a well-established London office that had been in operation since the 1830s, and had become a household name in the publication of nineteenth century textbooks.

However, in the 1890s, drained by the death of several of the founders, the House began encountering financial problems. In the process of passing on family estates, many of the founders' holdings in the company were redeemed, leaving the company short on liquid assets. Harper & Brothers applied for, and received, a loan of $850,000 from J. P. Morgan in 1896. In 1899, Harper ceased making payments on the loan, essentially defaulting, and had to submit to reorganization.

After a false start being run by competing publisher S. S. McClure, Harper asked Col. George M. Harvey to take over the receivership of the company. Harvey made several innovations, including giving William Dean Howells a more prominent role at the company by hiring him as a regular essayist and giving him a salary and an office at Harpers. Harvey was gifted at publicity, spending a great deal on entertaining the well-connected. However, he failed to make the needed cutbacks in the firm's operations, and resigned in failure in 1915. C. T. Brainard took his place. Brainard possessed the discipline necessary to enforce economies, but often imposed them short-sightedly. For example, his unwillingness to offer Sinclair Lewis a competitive royalty resulted in Harper's loss of that author. Two vice-presidents, T. B. Wells and Henry Hoyns, grew frustrated with Brainard's management, and took the initiative to present J. P. Morgan directly with an ambitious plan to pay off the firm's debts through the sale of equipment and real estate. Morgan agreed, and the firm moved to a new, smaller location on 33rd street and issued a run of preferred stock to raise the money to pay its debt. Harpers finally paid back J.P. Morgan in 1923. In 1924, Wells and Hoyns ousted Brainard and hired Douglas Parmentier. Cass Canfield, who would eventually rise to run the company, also joined the firm in this year.

The move to 33rd Street revitalized the company, and all departments of Harpers publishing expanded their operations in the following years. Harpers went on to publish authors such as Thornton Wilder and John Cheever, as well as poets such as Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath. In 1962 Harper & Brothers merged with Row, Peterson, and Company to become Harper and Row.