Search Results
Primarily medieval French and English financial documents including bills of sale, receipts, mortgages, wills, gift of properties, tax rolls, quittances, and so on, collected by Professor David E. Smith.
James Husted Diary, 10 May-11 Nov 1861 1 v. (SC)
Byland Abbey manuscripts, 1177-1390 1 volume
The documents seem to be copied in full with dates. Each entry has a page reference which is preceded by the abbreviation "Dod. no." and followed by the name "David Hughes." These appear to be references to some collection, possibly of the original documents. David Hughes may have been the copyist responsible for this volume, but there is no conclusive evidence as to this. The material is in Latin and the script is clear and legible.
Copies of parts of the Archives Municipales de Toulouse, Mss. H.H.1s and H.H.2, which include statutes of craft gilds dating from ca. 1270 A.D. to 1450 A.D. The codices are of the 14th century and contain the earliest known records of the gilds of Toulouse.
Manuscript account books and documents which illustrate and document the history of accounting and business procedures from the 14th century into the 20th century. The earliest item is Ms. 18, a Papal bull relating to notaries and appointing Julius de Gentilibus as a notary; the latest is an invoice book from 1941. The types of volumes contained in this collection include instruction books, daybooks, waste books, journals, bank books, ledgers, receipt books, storage books, invoice books, registers, ships' logs, letter books, diaries, town books, tax roll books, articles of agreement, bills of sale, deeds, wills, and many other significant items. The material originated in many countries around the globe, and represents a range of business and occupations from household to trading company (e.g., English (East India Company) and French East Indian Company (Compagnie des Indes orientales) volumes), and from itinerant laborer to lawyer and physician. The majority of the manuscripts are English and American of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The earliest American account is Ms. 75, 1690-1730, Josiah Winslow, Plymouth, Mass.
Part I of this collection contains 140 literary and political papers and documents relating to Venice and Venetian families from the 15th through 18th centuries. The material includes a group of the Busenello family papers which are largely wills, transfers of property, laudatory verses, and Latin prose (related to Dr. Livingston's LA VITA VENEZIANA NELLE OPERE DI GIAN FRANCESCO BUSENELLO, Venice, 1913); a series of moral and political sonnets in the Venetian dialect by Angelo Mario Labia (1690-1775); and a number of other documents and papers related to the Viscordi family and tne Venetian state.
David Eugene Smith Historical papers, 1400-1899 17.5 linear feet
Correspondence, manuscripts, and documents of mathematicians and other scientists, often dealing with politics and fields other than mathematics. Many of these concern the French Revolution.
Playing card collection, 1400-1900 1 Linear Feet
German, Italian, French, English, and American playing cards from the 15th, 16th and 19th centuries.
This is a heterogeneous collection of manuscript typescript material which relates to Joan of Arc. The material ranges in date and character from a 15th-century manuscript, CHRONIQUE DES ROIS CHARLES VI ET VII par Gilles Le Bouvier, on 241 paper leaves, which contains a long account of the life and exploits of Joan, to the 12 page typescript of Ambassador William C. Bullitt's address, LE FETE DE JEANNE D'ARC A PHILADELPHIA, broadcast on the Voice of America, May 9, 1943. The collection includes a number of manuscripts and typescripts of literary and scholarly works on Joan of Arc by Guy Endore, Andrew Lang, Charles Maurras, Pearl Mahaffey, Wilfred P. Barrett, Thomas Jones, and others. There are also letters from scholars and writers on the subject including Anatole France, Robert Southey, Samuel L. Clemens, Cardinal Manning, and Andrew Land. There are also a few original documents contemporary to and relating to Joan and her associates. Six such documents are bound into Gabrial Hanotaux's JEANNE D'ARC, Paris Hachette, 1911, as extra-illustrations.
Incunabula Collection, 1450-1500 2050 Volumes
Incunabula (books printed before 1501) from the various book collections have been shelved together by Goff number, the number assigned in Fredrick Goff's bibliography, Incunabula in American Libraries. There is a separate card catalog by author in RBML. Records for these titles derived from the ISTC (Incunabula Short Title Catalog) are found in CLIO; however they lack subject and other added entries.
"B-Dewey" General Rare Book Collection, 1450-1979 approximately 80,000? Volumes
The "B" collection is particularly strong in British and American literature and history, including a large group of nineteenth-century gift books. Other strong areas include editions of Greek & Roman authors, cometology, and polar exploration (thanks to Bassett Jones's Libris Polaris collection).
David Eugene Smith Library, 1450-1999 13000 Volumes
Donated in 1931, and augmented by books bought with the Smith Fund, the Smith library contains over 13,000 books mainly in the fields of mathematics and astronomy from the eleventh century to the early decades of the twentieth century. Professor Smith collected the history of mathematics regardless of format and language; Collections subject guide contains additional information about the Smith Collection on the History of Mathematics.
Stephen Whitney Phoenix Library, 1475-1880 approximately 8000 Volumes
This collection of over 8,000 volumes, the bequest of Stephen Whitney Phoenix (1881), was the first major donation of rare books given to Columbia College. It was Mr. Phoenix's library and as such contains books on a variety of subjects. The collection is rich in nineteenth century illustrated books and books on travel, emblem books, geography, natural history, and literature, including a Shakespeare First Folio (1623). The collection is catalogued in the Dewey scheme with the letters "P" or "BP" preceding the call number. The books are found in the card catalog.
Montgomery Library Of Accountancy, 1494-1987 2000 Volumes
Over 2000 printed volumes of works on accountancy, mostly how-to guides, from the first printed work on accounting (a portion of the Summa arithmetica of Luca Pacioli, 1494) to the early twentieth century, a gift in 1924 from Robert H. Montgomery, Professor of Accounting at the School of Business in order to document the history of accounting practices. The collection was formally transferred to Rare Books from the Business Library in 1974, although it had been on deposit here prior to 1960.
A group of early books by or about ancient Greek authors
Historical Maps Collection, 1500-1900 1400 items
This is a miscellaneous collection of maps transferred from the Geology Department. Some are old and rare, some are modern facsimiles. Gifts, purchases, and relevant maps from other special collections were added over time. Maps are arranged geographically. The library has a card catalog listing the maps individually, alphabetized by geographical/political entitity depicted; i.e., maps of Paris are filed under P, maps of France under F, and maps of Europe under E.
Architectural drawings, specifications, manuscripts, printed materials, photographs, ephemera, collected by Hitchcock, and relating to the work of architects Henry Hobson Richardson and Frank Lloyd Wright, including a letter, 1940, from Wright to Hitchcock suggesting the writing of IN THE NATURE OF MATERIALS; the architectural firm Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge; furniture designer Charles Rennie Macintosh; and miscellaneous and unidentified architects dating from the sixteenth century to the twentieth century, with the bulk dating from the nineteenth century.
"B-LC" General Rare Book Collection, 1500 - present approximately 200,000 Volumes
"B" collection comprises all the rare books that don't explicitly belong to the existing named collections
Baruch Spinoza Book Collection, 1535-1993 3933 Volumes
This collection of 3,933 volumes is formed from the union of the Spinoza collections of Adolph S. Oko and Carl Gebhardt, and contains material by and about Baruch Spinoza. Purchased and presented to the University by Dr. Simon L. Millner, Mrs. T.W. Lamont, Corliss Lamont, and Mr. E.A. Zabriskie, 1947.
8 engravings signed A.V., after drawings by S.B. (usually identified as Sebastiano Serlio). The initials S.B. appeared on impressions of the first state only, which were made in Venice in 1528. In the second state, the titles were re-engraved by Agostino Veneziano (also known as Agostino Musi), who redated the plates 1536 and numbered them; these were printed in Rome. In the third state, a later publisher, Antonio Salamanca, added his name: Ant. Sal. exc. These engravings are third state. This set of 8 prints contains nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11. Plates 4, 6, 8 are lacking.
A collection of autographs of Latin American patriots and Hispanic loyalists living in the Viceroyalty of Perú during the 19th century. The collection provides a valuable look into daily life in the viceroyalty. Documents to and from military leaders on both sides of the War for Independence describe day to day events of the war (requests for supplies, mess, prisoner and hospital lists, etc.). Among the items by patriots represented in the collection are: a decree by Simón Bolivar, dated 1825, setting up a school system that "la debe igualmente a todos..individuos."; a decree by Tomas de Heres creating the coat-of-arms of Perú, and the heraldry and wording for silver and gold coins of the new government; a list by José Medina of the survivors of the "Vendedores" squadron after the battle of Ayachucho; a letter of José de San Martín to Francisco de Paula Otero; a letter by Antonio José de Sucre to Manuel Martínez de Aparicio; and a letter by José de La Mar to Joaquín de la Pezuela. Among the loyalists represented are: José Fernando de Abascal y Souza, Fernando VII, José Antonio de Areche, Jerónimo Marrón de Lombera, José de Mendizábal e Imaz, Joaquín de la Pezuela, José Manuel Goyeneche, and Manuel Quimper. Also in the collection are two letters by Secretary of State William H. Seward, and two 16th century documents signed by the "conquistadores" Francisco Pizarro and Juan de la Torre. A second box, added in 1980, contains printed and miscellaneous materials from the 1950s.
Amsterdam Map, 1544 1 item
Bernard L. Pacella Medici family papers, 1548-1704 0.42 Linear Feet
Letters and documents from eight members of the Medici family. All are from members of the younger branch of the family, most were written from Florence, and most are accompanied by English translations.
Primarily oil portraits of 18th century literary figures. There are also engravings, and pen and ink and pencil sketches. Among the literary figures are portraits of Samuel Butler, Lord Byron, Thomas Carlyle; Colley Cibber; Charles Dickens; John Evelyn; John Foxe; David Garrick; Thomas Gray; Charles Lamb; Sir Thomas More; Sir Walter Raleigh; Samuel Richardson; Richard B. Sheridan; Alfred, Lord Tennyson; William M. Thackeray; and others. There is also a portrait by Blanche Ames of George A. Plimpton. Among the artists represented in the collection are James Maubert, Frederick Sandys, and William Hogarth (attrib.)
Citizenship grant, Bologna, 1552 1 item.
James Kent Library, 1554-1930 1480 Volumes
Non-legal library of Chancellor James Kent,the first professor of law at Columbia College, appointed in 1793 before Columbia University instituted its law school. He also was a practitioner, having served 25 years as a state judge in New York, before he became a law professor. Chancellor Kent invented legal scholarship, presenting a series of lectures at Columbia in the 1820s, and then publishing them as the Commentaries on American Law, characterized by one recent writer as "the most influential American law book of the ante-bellum period."
Personal letters written by Phoenix to friends and associates, and letters which Phoenix collected as autograph specimens, ranging in date from 1554 (Melanchthon) to 1933 (Franklin D. Roosevelt). Over half of Phoenix's own letters are addressed to Josiah Collins Pumpelly (1839-1920), many others are to Henry Thayer Drowne (1822-1897). The material is dated from various places in the United States and Europe and contains accounts of Phoenix's travels and comments on yachting, books, the theater, and friends. There is a series of Presidential letters ranging from Washington to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Also, an engraved portrait of Phoenix.
Brander Matthews Dramatic Library, 1562-1978 6000 Volumes
The collection of about 6,000 volumes is particularly strong in English and American drama and in Molière. Records for the books are found in the card catalog; the books are classed with a Dewey call number preceded by a "D." The core of the collection comes from Dramatic Museum, with books divided between RBML, Burgess, & GL. These books are cataloged in Columbia's card catalogs, but have not been retrospectively converted. The collection also currently includes Classed Manuscripts. 40 titles in 46 volumes - a variety of manuscripts of plays and of works about the theater, from the late 19th and 20th century, cataloged as books with additional main entry card for each title is filed in the RBML Manuscripts/Documents card file.
Columbiana Manuscripts, 1572-1986, bulk 1850-1920 38.83 linear feet
Gran Colombia Manuscript and Document Collection, 1576 2 Linear Feet
Gran Colombia collection, 1576-1836 2.42 Linear Feet
A collection of letters, manuscripts, and documents relating to the history of printing and the graphic arts. The collection is in six parts. Cataloged Correspondence and manuscripts, including cataloged letters to and from Henry Lewis Bullen, the librarian of American Typefounders Company Library. Uncataloged letters of the Typographic Library, including routine correspondence, letters of inquiry to Bullen, the Library's order file, and library correspondence of Columbia University, 1941-1946, pertaining to the collection. Correspondence, manuscripts, documents and printed material by and relating to Henry L. Bullen. Letter books, ledgers, daybooks, and journals of the early American typefounders, Binney and Ronaldson. A collection of over 200 typographical patents for the design of printing types (19th and 20th centuries). Archives of the Companía Real de Impresores, Madrid, relating to its operations and business.
Sam Schaefler bookplate collection, 1580-1800 25 linear feet
The collection consists of several sub-divisions, such as bookplates with a printed date (over 300 bookplates, 1587-1800), ecclesiastical bookplates of the 17th and 18th centuries, and a large group relating to Cambridge and Oxford Universities (mostly 18th century). Well represented are bookplates of libraries, starting with a German bookplate, ca. 1580. Among the library bookplates of some significance are large dated German bookplates of the Royal Library, Munich, the earliest being dated 1614, the bookplate of the medical library, Frankfort, 1676, representing the view of a 17th century library, and a large collection of early American library bookplates.
Christopher Coover collection of literary & historical letters manuscripts and documents, 1589-1923 6 linear feet
Park Benjamin collection of international cityscape and landscape views, 1590- 1900, bulk 1795-1850 3 document boxes
This collection contains predominantly early 19th-century prints of architecture, cityscapes, and landscapes, with some ethnographic views, in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and other selected countries. The majority of images are from published sources and are uncolored. Nearly all the prints are titled and most include artist, printer, and/or publisher information. Many noted printmakers are represented in this collection, most of whom were British.
Bible Collection, 1599-1869 116 Bibles
These documents were printed by Franklin at the press he established in Passy, France, while representing the new United States government in Paris. Franklin went all out to create forms which would represent the new American nation as a respectable power. For these forms, he used a sloped Roman type and fancy capitals which were unique to his press, and had the paper made to order (in England!) in the smooth wove style still little known of in France, with a strip of marbling down the center of the sheet. The sheet would have originally been twice the size you see here; it held the promissory note in duplicate. The document is "indentured," or cut apart in a wavy line through the marbling, making each copy of the promissory note (for the very large sums of money the US was borrowing from France) unique — so it would be impossible for either side to substitute a different document with, perhaps, a different sum owed.
Edith Wharton Letter, 15 Jan 1915 1 folder (SC)
Bard family papers, 1600-1892 1 linear feet
Correspondence, documents, and genealogical records of the Bard and related Muirson, Prime, and Sands families of New York and New Jersey. Prominent among the papers is the correspondence of William Bard, 1778-1853, to his daughter, Susan Sands, his son-in-law, Ferdinand Sands, and his grandson, Joseph Sands. Includes 18 letters from Samuel Bard, 1742-1821, physician and professor of medicine at Columbia College, to his grandson, Francis Upton Johnston, medical student at Columbia and house doctor at New York Hospital. The letters deal with personal affairs, Francis' scholastic progress and topics of interest to the medical profession. Thereis also a pastel portrait of John Bard by James Sharples.
This collection includes hornbooks, battledores, and facsimiles of hornbooks, a few hornbook-adjacent items, and supporting documents. Hornbooks and battledores were used from the 14th through the 19th centuries for the earliest steps of training in literacy: learning to recognize letterforms, and sometimes to read syllables and/or short texts.