An artificial collection comprised of correspondence, diaries, lecture notes, essays, administrative documents, minutes, and other documents related to Columbia University. Materials were created by or for students, alumni, faculty, administrators, staff, trustees, and honorary degree recipients.

The Plimpton Family Papers is primarily comprised of correspondence, personal and professional documents, writings and photographs generated by or for George Arthur Plimpton and Frances Taylor Pearsons Plimpton, their son, Francis T.P. Plimpton, and his wife Pauline Ames Plimpton. Also included are documents and photographs produced by or for other Plimpton, Pearsons and Ames family members, from seventeenth century ancestors to late-twentieth century descendants.

The George A. Plimpton Papers consist largely of personal and professional correspondence, financial and real estate records, personal diaries and albums, writings, and lectures produced by or for George Arthur Plimpton. But the Papers also contains not only the correspondence and records of Plimpton's colleagues at Ginn and Company, the publishing house that Plimpton led for decades, but also correspondence and records relating to the dozens of other institutions and organizations that Plimpton helped lead. In addition to extensive correspondence relating to Plimpton's collecting of rare books, manuscripts, and historical artifacts, the Papers also contain such diverse items as autographs of presidents, handwriting specimens, studies of medieval manuscripts, and documents relating to the American slave trade.

Correspondence, manuscripts of poems, and manuscripts of lectures by Benjamin. The correspondence consists of original letters of Benjamin, typescript and photostatic copies of Benjamin letters in other libraries, and letters to Benjamin from some of his literary contemporaries including Paul Hamilton Hayne, Willis Gaylord Clark, John Lothrop Motley, and Fitz-Greene Halleck. Many of the letters relate to Park Benjamin's lecture tours. There are other family letters and many documents relating to the Benjamin family,and two letterbooks of John Lothrop Motley. Also, a large amount of genealogical material of the Benjamin family, and its related families from the 16th century to the present day. There are also financial records, monographs, clippings, and photographs.

Personal and professional papers including correspondence, manuscripts, documents, diaries, journals, photographs, and printed materials relating to his teaching at various universities, his literary studies and writings, and his professional activities in such organizations as the Moder Language Association and P.E.N. His correspondents include contemporary authors such as Edmund Blunden, Christopher Hassall, Louis Kronenberger; scholars such as James P. Clifford, Leon Edel, and A.L. Rowse. There are also some letters collected by Halsband, including those by Mrs Piozzi, John Wilkes (1727-1797) and John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713-1792). Among the manuscripts are notes, drafts, typescripts, and proofs of his LIFE OF LADY WORTLEY MONTAGU (Oxford, 1956) and COMPLETE LETTERS OF LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU (Oxford, 1965-1967). Also, manuscripts and typescripts of Halsband's diaries, journals, lectures, articles, book reviews, and essays. The printed materials include ephemera, books, and offprints by Halsband and books by other authors inscribed to him. There is a watercolor portrait of Halsband by Stephen Andrews, London, ca. 1966.

Letters, manuscripts, notes, memorabilia, photographs, and printed material. Cataloged letters from George Colman the Elder, English dramatist; Lord Jeffrey, Scottish judge and critic; Andrew Lang, Scottish author; Robert Montgomery, English poet; Richard Parsons Rosse,1st Earl of Rosse; George Thomson, friend of Robert Burns and music editor; Bernard De Voto, critic, and S.R. Crockett, Scottish author. Cataloged manuscripts by Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet, James Montgomery, and E.I. Powell. Cataloged diaries of June and Coleman O. Parsons of their trip around the world in 1936-37. There are also ca.700 pages of notes by Coleman O. Parsons on various Scottish authors(including Sir Walter Scott), Scottish folk-lore and history, and Scottish poetry. Most of the notes concern his research on Francis Colman, George Colman the Elder, and George Colman the Younger. In addition there is the mss. for his book "Studies in Eccentricity"; the mss. of an 18th century Scottish ghost story entitled "A Cool Dialogue between the Living and the Dead" and notes and essays on Mark Twain, as well as a poetry album kept by Elizabeth Saynor Marshall and photographs of Parsons in South Africa.

Letters, manuscripts, and documents collected by Crary primarily for use in the writing of her book on American Tories, THE PRICE OF LOYALTY (1973). Many of the items relate to the Continental Army, and especially to the Company of Captain Nathan Peirce in the Green Mountain Boys Regiment of Seth Warner (1743-1784). Also included are letters from John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), Indian agent Israel Chapin, William Harris Crawford (1772-1834), Charleston merchant and loyalist John Cruden, Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), Woodbury Langdon (1738/9-1805); and others. Also, documents relating to the commands of Benedict Arnold, John Burgoyne, Lord Cornwallis, David Wooster, and many others; deeds to land in Montgomery County, N.Y. signed by Jeremiah Van Rensselaer (1738-1810), and others; an orderly book belonging to Ichabod Norton; and a journal kept on Gibralter, apparently by the governor, George Augustus Eliott (1717-1790). A volume of muster rolls and troop encampment data of the Army of Great Britain contains copies of letters intercepted from Alexander Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris.

Fifty-four letters of and pertaining to members of the Ellison family, chiefly those of Colonel Robert Ellison to his brother Henry Ellison dealing with the former's military activities abroad and in America, 1733-1748, and the letters of Henry to his sons, Henry and Robert, mostly treating the political news of the day in England, 1759-1774. Also the diary of Robert, son of Henry, and various documents.

The papers relate chiefly to the business, financial, real estate, military, civic and personal activities of Nicholas Fish. There are letters from various military figures concerning army provisions during the Revolution, letters relating to lands given to Fish for his services during the war, twenty letters from various individuals to George Clinton (1739-1812), and ten letters to DeWitt Clinton. The Hamilton Fish letters deal with business matters of his father, Nicholas, after his death. There are a few personal letters from several family members and a diary of Nicholas Fish from 1784. The documents consist of real estate and financial matters of the family as well as various petitions on matters of a civic nature

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.