Publishers' Weekly Collection 1933-1946

Summary

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Overview

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Abstract

Consists of correspondence and printed matter of Publishers' Weekly, the periodical published by the R. R. Bowker Company.

Description

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Description

The collection consists of correspondence and printed matter of Publishers' Weekly, the periodical published by the R. R. Bowker Company, and correspondence of Frederic G. Melcher, company president and editor of the weekly. The collection contains material relating to the book publishing industry's problems during World War II, especially paper shortages; the industry's response to the demands of the war, for example, helping to provide libraries for military personnel; and its dealings with public and private groups such as the War Production Board, Office of War Information, Office of the Alien Property Custodian, the Victory Book Committee, the Book Industry Committee for Roosevelt, and the Council on Books in Wartime. There is also material from the early Roosevelt years (1933-1934), such as records of hearings by the National Recovery Administration on a code of fair practices and competition for the booksellers' trade industry and the textbook publishers.

Collection Creator History

The company was founded by Frederick Leypoldt, a German immigrant who worked as a bookseller and recognized the need for good bibliographic information to make the book business more efficient. In 1870 Leypoldt issued the first edition of his Annual American Catalogue, a precursor to Books In Print. In 1872 he published the first issue of Publishers Weekly, and in 1876 the first issue of Library Journal. In 1878 Leypoldt's company was acquired by Richard Rogers Bowker. Leypoldt and Bowker also founded such standard book-industry reference sources as Literary Marketplace and Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory. The company has been bought and sold a couple of times since the 1960s.

Collection History

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Processing Information

Folder list prepared by Alicia Corona '14 in 2011.

Access and Use

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Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.

Preferred Citation

Publishers' Weekly Collection; 1933-1946, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Find More

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Topics

• Publishing history

Subject Terms

• Book Industry Committee for Roosevelt
• Book industries and trade
• Booksellers and bookselling
• Council on Books in Wartime
• Editors
• Industrial priorities
• Law and legislation
• Military libraries
• New York
• New York (State)
• Paper industry
• Publication and distribution
• Publishers and publishing
• R. R. Bowker Company
• Textbooks
• United States
• United States. Alien Property Custodian
• United States. National Recovery Administration
• United States. Office of War Information
• United States. War Production Board
• Victory Book Committee

Genre Terms

• Correspondence
• Records

Contents and Arrangement

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Arrangement

Unprocessed.

Request Checked Items

	Title	Date	Container
	Office of War Information	1942-1945	Box 1, Folder 1
	Alien Property Custodian	1942-1947	Box 1, Folder 2
	Libraries - Army	1941-1946	Box 1, Folder 3
	OPM, OPA, and OEM - Statements and Rulings	1941-1942	Box 1, Folder 4
	Papers on War Insurance and Foreign Owned Property	1941-1943	Box 1, Folder 5
	War Manpower Commission	1943-1945	Box 1, Folder 6
	Exports and Warfare Economy	1942-1944	Box 1, Folder 7
	Papers from Office of Facts and Figures, OPA, and OPM Correspondence	1942-1946	Box 1, Folder 8
	Transportation	1942-1945	Box 1, Folder 9
	Wages	1942-1945	Box 1, Folder 10
	Libraries - Army, Navy, Air Corps	1941-1946	Box 1, Folder 11
	Propaganda	1940-1942	Box 2, Folder 1
	Book Campaigns	1941-1944	Box 2, Folder 2
	Treasury Stickers	1942	Box 2, Folder 3
	Education - G.I. Bill of Rights	1944-1946	Box 2, Folder 4
	Memorial Suggestions	1944	Box 2, Folder 5
	Book Mobilization Conference	1942	Box 2, Folder 6
	John Murray Plan	1941-1942	Box 2, Folder 7
	Prisoners of War	1942-1943	Box 2, Folder 8
	Soliders' Vote Bill	1944	Box 2, Folder 9
	Books for the Home Front Campaign	1943-1944	Box 2, Folder 10
	War Production Board	1941-1946	Box 2, Folder 11
	European Governments in Exile	1942	Box 2, Folder 12
	Keep Well Campaign	1942-1943	Box 2, Folder 13
	Book Industry Committee for Roosevelt	1944	Box 2, Folder 14
	Victory Book Campaign	1941-1945	Box 2, Folder 15
	Book Trade Campaign	1942-1943	Box 2, Folder 16
	National Industrial Recovery Administration	1934	Box 3, Folder 1
	National Industrial Recovery Administration	1934	Box 3, Folder 2
	National Industrial Recovery Administration	1934	Box 3, Folder 3
	National Industrial Recovery Administration	1934	Box 3, Folder 4
	National Industrial Recovery Administration	1934	Box 3, Folder 5
	Papers Concerning National Industrial Recovery Administration	1933-1935	Box 3, Folder 6
	Paper Curtailment	1942-1946	Box 4, Folder 1
	Codes of National Recovery Administration	1933-1934	Box 4, Folder 2
	Paper Orders	1943-1945	Box 4, Folder 3
	Papers on National Code Authority	1933-1935	Box 4, Folder 4
	General Materials on Paper	1941-1945	Box 4, Folder 5
	Paper Salvage Drive	1941-1945	Box 4, Folder 6
	Personnel - War Organizations	1941-1945	Box 5, Folder 1
	Wholesales and Retail	1933-1934	Box 5, Folder 2
	Booksellers Code	1934-1935	Box 5, Folder 3
	Textbook Code	1934	Box 5, Folder 4
	Retail Code	1933-1935	Box 5, Folder 5
	Periodicals	1934	Box 5, Folder 6
	Codes - Administration and Complaint	1934	Box 5, Folder 7
	Codes - Subscription Publishing	1934-1935	Box 5, Folder 8
	Codes - Trade Publishing	1933-1935	Box 5, Folder 9
	Wartime Book Manufacturing and Design	1941-1945	Box 6, Folder 1
	Paper - Waste Paper, Wrapping Paper, and Cartons	1941-1944	Box 6, Folder 2
	Extra Paper Grants	1943-1945	Box 6, Folder 3
	Price Ceilings	1942-1946	Box 6, Folder 4
	Inventories	1942-1944	Box 6, Folder 5
	Surplus Property Disposal	1946	Box 6, Folder 6
	Binding - Book Cloth	1941-1945	Box 6, Folder 7
	Binding - Wire	1942-1945	Box 6, Folder 8
	Metals	1942-1946	Box 6, Folder 9
	Office Equipment	1942	Box 6, Folder 10
	Controlled Materials	1943	Box 6, Folder 11
	Priorities and Allocations	1941-1944	Box 6, Folder 12
	Containers	1943-1945	Box 6, Folder 13
	Inks	1943-1944	Box 6, Folder 14
	Glue	1944	Box 6, Folder 15
	Trade in Wartime: Stock	1944-1945	Box 7, Folder 1
	Trade in Wartime: Shipping and Transportation	1943-1946	Box 7, Folder 2
	Trade in Wartime: Graphic Arts Emergency Council	1942-1944	Box 7, Folder 3
	Trade in Wartime: Rationing	1943-1945	Box 7, Folder 4
	Trade in Wartime: Rents	1942-1945	Box 7, Folder 5
	Trade in Wartime: Publisher Sales Practices	1943-1945	Box 7, Folder 6
	Trade in Wartime: Essentiality of Books	1942-1944	Box 7, Folder 7
	Libraries in the War	1940-1944	Box 7, Folder 8
	Army, Books in the Miscellaneous Information	1942-1946	Box 7, Folder 9
	Children's Reading in Wartime	1942-1945	Box 7, Folder 10
	Book Publishing in Wartime	1942-1945	Box 7, Folder 11
	Book Stores in Wartime	1942-1944	Box 7, Folder 12
	World War I - General Publishing Problems	1939-1943	Box 7, Folder 13
	World War II - General Publishing Problems	1941-1945	Box 7, Folder 14
	Publishers' Weekly Articles on Book Trade in Wartime	1939-1941	Box 7, Folder 15
	Council of Books in Wartime	1942-1944	Box 7, Folder 16
	Government Regulations for Publishers	1918-1923	Box 7, Folder 17
	War Production Board - Miscellaneous	1942	Box 7, Folder 18
	Small Business Committee	1942	Box 7, Folder 19
	Postal and Express Rates During Wartime	1942-1944	Box 7, Folder 20
	Rehabilitation	1944-1945	Box 7, Folder 21
	Authors in Wartime	1940-1945	Box 7, Folder 22