I. Records of the publisher Houghton Mifflin Company and its precedessors
Scope and Contents
I. Records of the publisher Houghton Mifflin Company and its predecessors: Hurd and Houghton (1864-1878); Houghton, Osgood and Company (1878-1880); Houghton, Mifflin and Company (1880-1908); Houghton Mifflin Company (1908- )
Dates
- Creation: 1866-1968
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to most of this material.
Some materials in Box 17, Box 19, Box 22, Box 23, and Box 28, as well as Volumes 88, 214, 323, and 353 are all restricted for preservation as of January 2023. They will be reopened for access when preservation is completed.
Extent
55 linear feet (391 volumes and 30 boxes)Arrangement
Organized into the following sub-series:
- (1) - (13) A. Cost books (1867-1880), estimate book (1880), records of copyright deposit (1880-1894), and printing orders (1894-1901).
- (14) - (30) B. Records and inventories of sheet stock (1878-1908) and plates (1878-1893).
- (31) - (94) C. Records relating to sales and earnings, including books sales (1880-1923), book earnings (1880-1920), book journals (1881-1898), book showings (1881-1920), records relating to the Ticknor and Company purchase (1889-1910), and special sales (1897-1902).
- (95) - (159) D. Records relating to manuscripts received (1880-1941), contracts (1891-1968), and royalties (1864-1915).
- (160) - (181) E. General account books (1868-1913).
- (182)- (235) F. Pressed letter books, including letters from Henry Oscar Houghton (1879-1885), George H. Mifflin (1894-1909), the editorial department (1890-1909), the treasurer (1908-1916).
- (236) - (251) G. Scrapbooks of printed ephemera (1872-1908), clippings of advertisements (1892-1904), and other material.
- (252) - (259) H. Miscellaneous documents and records, including Horace E. Scudder's diary (1866-1869), a guestbook (1880-1882), and bookbinding patterns (early 20th c.).
Physical Location
MS, f, b, HD
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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Harvard University
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