Research Catalog

Title

Mercantile collection.

Publication

1726-1950, bulk 1750-1900.

Supplementary Content

Finding aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Duyckinck Collection.
• Emmet Collection.
• Ford Collection.
• Sabin Collection.
• Thomas J. Taylor Collection.

Description

3.06 linear feet (7 boxes, 1 oversize folder)

Summary

The Mercantile Collection, 1726-1950, is a synthetic collection documenting mercantile and other business activities from the early-17th to the mid-20th centuries, especially in the northeastern United States. It consists of papers and records created by persons, firms, and companies engaged chiefly in trade, finance, insurance, mining, railroad management, shipping, and whaling. A few items pertain to manufacturing and real estate. Transatlantic commerce in the colonial and early-national period, and the early railroad industry in America, are strongly represented. Notable material includes the assorted papers of New York City and Philadelphia merchants, among them members of the Pemberton family of Philadelphia; Vice-Admiralty court proceedings; and the incomplete ledger of an 18th-century New York City druggist.

Subject

• Banks and banking > United States
• Insurance > United States
• International trade
• Mercantile system
• Merchants > United States
• Merchants > Great Britain
• Mining corporations
• Pharmacy > New York (State) > New York > History > 18th century
• Privateering
• Prize law > Great Britain
• Railroads > United States
• Railroads > Cuba
• Real property > United States
• Shipping > United States
• Whaling
• New York (N.Y.) > Commerce
• Philadelphia (Pa.) > Commerce
• United States > Commerce
• United States > History > Revolution, 1775-1783
• United States > History > Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
• United States > History > 1865-
• United States > History > 1783-1865

Genre/Form

• Account books.
• Accounts.
• Business records.
• Commercial correspondence.
• Legal instruments.
• Menus.
• Photographs.
• Property records.
• Shipping records.
• Stock certificates.
• Technical drawings.

Source (note)

• The Mercantile Collection was compiled over time from various purchases and donations made in the late-19th and 20th centuries, including transfers from the Duyckinck Collection, the Emmet Collection, the Ford Collection, the Sabin Collection and the Thomas J. Taylor Collection.

Language (note)

• Includes items in Dutch, French, German, and Spanish.

Processing Action (note)

• The collection received an accession-level description in 1986. In 2017-2018 a number of small collections were removed for separate description and access, and the main finding aid was revised. The collection's original arrangement in two series was retained.

Call Number

MssCol 24608

OCLC

122517785

Title

Mercantile collection.

Production

1726-1950, bulk 1750-1900.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

sheet

volume

Language

Includes items in Dutch, French, German, and Spanish.

Processing Action

The collection received an accession-level description in 1986. In 2017-2018 a number of small collections were removed for separate description and access, and the main finding aid was revised. The collection's original arrangement in two series was retained.

Source

The Mercantile Collection was compiled over time from various purchases and donations made in the late-19th and 20th centuries, including transfers from the Duyckinck Collection, the Emmet Collection, the Ford Collection, the Sabin Collection and the Thomas J. Taylor Collection.

Connect to:

Finding aid

Occupation

Businessmen.

Mariners.

Merchants.

Ship captains.

Shipowners.

Added Author

Duyckinck Collection.

Emmet Collection.

Ford Collection.

Sabin Collection.

Thomas J. Taylor Collection.

Research Call Number

MssCol 24608