Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons, 1786-2004 (mostly 1880-1979)

Contents and Arrangement

Expanded View

Only show materials containing online content

Collection Overview

Creator:

Charles Scribner's Sons.

Title:

Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons

Repository:

Manuscripts Division

Permanent URL:

http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/9c67wm86s

Dates:

1786-2004 (mostly 1880-1979)

Size:

1492 boxes, 66 items, 151 Volumes, and 750 linear feet

Storage Note:

This is stored in multiple locations.
Firestone Library (scamss): Boxes 1-874; 982-1485; 1489-1491; 1412A
ReCAP (scarcpxm): Box 1486-1488

Language:

English

Abstract: This collection consists of virtually all of the surviving records of Scribners (1846-1984), the New York City publisher, and reflect aspects of all of its publishing functions (soliciting and acquiring books, editing manuscripts, printing and manufacturing books, advertising and publicizing publications) and business concerns (book and magazine publisher, retail bookstore, subscription books department, educational books department, printing press and bindery, rare books department). Included are files of editorial correspondence with authors, manufacturing records about book production, advertising records, author contracts, a collection of dust jackets, book catalogs, ledgers, and photographs. While there are gaps in most of the series or record groups, there are records representative of all of the firm's former permutations: Baker & Scribner, Charles Scribner & Co., Scribner, Armstrong & Co., Scribner, Armstrong & Welford, Scribner & Co., Charles Scribner's Sons. The bulk of the material (1880s-1970s), however, dates from the period when the publisher bore its most familiar name, "Charles Scribner's Sons." There is also material related to early publishers' organizations and international copyright.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of virtually all of the surviving records of Scribners (1846-1984), the New York City publisher, and reflect aspects of all of its publishing functions (soliciting and acquiring books, editing manuscripts, printing and manufacturing books, advertising and publicizing publications) and business concerns (book and magazine publisher, retail bookstore, subscription books department, educational books department, printing press and bindery, rare books department). Included are files of editorial correspondence with authors, manufacturing records about book production, advertising records, author contracts, a collection of dust jackets, book catalogs, ledgers, and photographs. While there are gaps in most of the series or record groups, there are records representative of all of the firm's former permutations: Baker & Scribner, Charles Scribner & Co., Scribner, Armstrong & Co., Scribner, Armstrong & Welford, Scribner & Co., Charles Scribner's Sons. The bulk of the material (1880s-1970s), however, dates from the period when the publisher bore its most familiar name, "Charles Scribner's Sons." There is also material related to early publishers' organizations and international copyright.

The family-owned nature of the company is reflected in the files of its successive heads: Charles Scribner, 1821-1871 (Princeton Class of 1840), Charles Scribner, 1854-1930 (Princeton Class of 1875), Arthur Hawley Scribner, 1859-1932 (Princeton Class of 1881), Charles Scribner, 1890-1952 (Princeton Class of 1913), Charles Scribner, 1921-1995 (Princeton Class of 1943), Charles Scribner, 1951- (Princeton Class of 1973). Company staff well-represented in the collection include Edward L. Burlingame (first editor of the firm's most successful magazine, Scribner's Magazine), Robert Bridges and Alfred Dashiell (Burlingame's successors), legendary editor Maxwell Perkins (editor of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe), other editors (W. C. Brownell, John Hall Wheelock, Wallace Meyer, Harry Brague, Burroughs Mitchell, Elinor Parker), business manager and later vice-president Whitney Darrow, and London office managers (Charles Welford, Lemuel Bangs, Charles Kingsley, John Carter).

Some of the best-known authors that were published by Scribners in the 19th century are T. S. Arthur, Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen, Noah Brooks, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Horace Bushnell, George Washington Cable, Richard Harding Davis, Mary Mapes Dodge (author and editor of the firm's children's magazine, St. Nicholas), Eugene Field, John Fox Jr., Harold Frederic, Alice French ("Octave Thanet"), A. B. Frost (author/illustrator), Charles Dana Gibson (author/illustrator), Arnold Guyot, J. T. Headley, J. G. Holland (author and editor of the firm's first commercial magazine, Scribner's Monthly), Henry James, Caroline M. Kirkland, Sidney Lanier, Brander Matthews, Donald Grant Mitchell ("Ik Marvel"), Thomas Nelson Page, Maxfield Parrish (illustrator), Howard Pyle (author/illustrator), George Santayana, Philip Schaff, Ernest Thompson Seton, F. Hopkinson Smith, Henry M. Stanley, Robert Louis Stevenson, Frank R. Stockton, Richard Henry Stoddard, Mary Virginia Terhune ("Marion Harland"), Henry van Dyke, N. P. Willis, and Edith Wharton.

Other authors that began publishing with Scribners in the 20th century include James Truslow Adams, Edward W. Bok, Paul Hyde Bonner, James Boyd, Thomas Boyd, Struthers Burt, Taylor Caldwell, Sir Winston Churchill, Robert Creeley, Marcia Davenport, August Derleth, Loren Eiseley, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Douglas Southall Freeman, John Galsworthy (winner of the 1932 Nobel Prize for Literature), Caroline Gordon, Grey Owl (Archibald Stansfeld Belaney), Nancy Hale, Ernest Hemingway (winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature), P. D. James, Will James, James Jones, Ring Lardner, Allan Nevins, Reinhold Niebuhr, Alan Paton, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, C. P. Snow, Allen Tate, Arthur Train, Thomas Wolfe, Willard Huntington Wright ("S. S. Van Dine"), N. C. Wyeth (illustrator), and Stark Young.

In addition to company records, the records contain Scribner family papers, primarily correspondence and photographs. Papers relating to John Insley Blair, the 19th-century American railroad capitalist and father-in-law of the firm's founder, as well as other Blair family members, are included.

Collection Creator Biography:

Charles Scribner's Sons.

An illustrated chronology about Charles Scribner's Sons is available at: http://libweb.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/aids/scribner/index.html.

Collection History

Acquisition:

These archival records have come to the Princeton University Library in various installments, as gifts from the Scribner family, beginning in 1967.

Appraisal

In 1957-1958, the Scribner's Art Dept. donated some material to the Archives of American Art, including portrait files, illustrator files, and miscellaneous reference files. Images and descriptions of these items are available at: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/charles-scribners-sons-art-reference-dept-records-5715.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by John Delaney in sections over many years, beginning about 1981. Finding aid written by John Delaney in parts, beginning about 1984.

During 2022, restrictions on selected original materials where researchers were required to use surrogates were lifted as part of a restrictions review project.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Originals for boxes 73-75; boxes 193-195; boxes 197-199; box 287, folder 9; boxes 768-771; box 772, folders 1-30; box 773, folder 41; and boxes 774-779 are stored in special vault facilities.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material: