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

Consists of additional author files, including Dictionary of American History Author Files, Will D. Howe Files, Maxwell Perkins / John Hall Wheelock General Files, and Christine Pevitt Files.

18 boxes

Description:

Record of book publications, including holiday and children's books

15 boxes

Description:

In addition to the date published and the book price, many cards contains bibliographic information (size, number of volumes) about the book in question. The files are useful for 19th-century books but are not all-inclusive.

11 boxes

Description:

Dust jackets of selected books published during these decades

29 boxes

Description:

Balance sheets, annual reports, etc., and stockholder, board of directors, and retirement board meetings material, and some records of royalty payments by foreign publishers

Correspondence files, primarily of W. Gilman Low, regarding foreign publication of Scribner titles

44 boxes

Description:

Mini-collection of works (copies), editorial and personal correspondence, photographs, and printed material

19 boxes

Description:

Editorial correspondence and rejection files relating to children's books and books for younger readers

2 boxes

Description:

Over 150 business ledgers bearing such titles as "Accounts Receivable," "Plate Record," "Inventory," "Royalty," and "Cash Book."

37 boxes

Description:

Partnership agreements, business contracts, copyright certificates, author contracts, lawsuits, some Scribner files of Jacobs Persinger & Parker

Business and editorial correspondence

Business correspondence between CSS and its London branch

24 boxes

Description:

Business correspondence dealing with permissions to publish excerpts from Scribner works

Photos of countries, people, subjects gathered for book use (such as Album of American History), and of company staff, offices, buildings, and selected authors

48 boxes

Description:

Manufacturing and printing data for books published by the firm

94 boxes

Description:

Promotional pieces, publicity photographs, reviews

Leases, insurance certificates, taxes, etc., for various Scribner business properties, including Ernest Flagg's specifications for 597-599 Fifth Avenue; also some files of Scribner Tenants in Common

Identification of rejected manuscripts, some correspondence with their authors

5 boxes

Description:

Correspondence, primarily of William L. Savage, who was editor of Scribner's religious books

More editorial correspondence, primarily between authors and Maxwell Perkins

2 boxes

1 box

Series 26: Scribner's Magazine Records, 1886-1996

13 boxes

Description:

Covers, records of submissions/amounts paid, some manuscripts and galleys, some art department costs for issues

Publication files (promotional circulars, correspondence), subscription forms, and manufacturing records related to subscription editions of mostly multi-volume works

13 boxes

Description:

1) letterbook: 1892-1895 (indexed volume); 2) manufacturing records: 1897-1903 (indexed ledger); 3) scrapbook (subscription forms, circulars, etc.).

68 boxes

Description:

Primarily business correspondence of the succeeding Charles Scribners

2 boxes

Description:

The Autograph Collection contains two boxes of approximately 300 letters by about 100 well-known, 19th- and early 20th-century, English and American authors.

1 folder

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.

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.

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:

Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:

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

Location:

Manuscripts Division

Firestone Library

One Washington Road

Princeton, NJ 08544, USA

(609) 258-3184

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Storage Note:

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

Related Materials: Brandywine River Museum of Art. The Charles Scribner's Sons Art Department Card File. Reference Number: T-SCRIB-47000
Bibliography: Burlingame, Roger. Of Making Many Books (New York: Scribners, 1946) Delaney, John, ed. Three volumes in the Documentary Series of the Dictionary of Literary Biography published by Gale Research (Detroit): The House of Scribner, 1846-1904 (1995); The House of Scribner, 1905-1930 (1997); The House of Scribner, 1931-1984 (1998)
Subject Terms:: Authors and publishers -- United States
Authors, American. -- 19th century
Authors, American. -- 20th century
Copyright -- United States -- 20th century
Editors -- New York (State) -- New York. -- Correspondence
Novelists, American.
Poets, American
Poets, English.
Publishers and publishing -- New York (State) -- New York.
Women novelists, American.
Genre Terms:: Articles of partnership. -- 19th century
Business records -- 19th century
Business records. -- 20th century
Contracts.
Correspondence
Dust jackets (Binding)
Family papers
Photographs, Original.
Names:: Charles Scribner and Company.
Charles Scribner's Sons.
Baker & Scribner
Scribner & Co.
Scribner, Armstrong & Welford
Scribner, Armstrong, and Company.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott) (1896-1940)
Hemingway, Ernest (1899-1961)

Series 1: Advertising Records (large gaps), 1917-1964

Subseries 1A: Advertising Records, 1917-1950

Abbey - Amorim, 1929-1945

Anderson - Avey, 1923-1943

B. B. - Beard, 1922-1945

Beaton - Bok, 1923-1946

Bolitho - Brown, Marcia, 1923-1941

Brown, Paul - Byron, 1923-1946

Cable - Chaplin, 1923-1943

Chapman - Conklin, 1923-1943

Connely - Cutting, 1925-1946

Dahl - de Man, 1923-1948

Denison - Dyer, 1924-1945

East - Eyston, 1923-1937

Faber - Forbush, 1923-1944

Ford - Fulton, 1928-1947

Gade - Galsworthy, 1917-1942

Galt - Goodyear, 1923-1950

Gordon - Gwynn, 1923-1945

Hagedorn - Helme, 1924-1944

Hemingway - Howard, 1922-1948

Howe - Hyde, 1922-1946

Ibsen - Irving, 1923-1939

Jack - Jusserand, 1928-1947

Kaempffert - Kunkel, 1923-1946

Lambert - Linderman, 1922-1948

Listing Ads - Lytton, 1925-1948

Maass - Martin, 1923-1948

Mason - Meynell, 1923-1948

Meynier - Myers, 1923-1948

Naidish - Nyabongo, 1925-1944

Sabe - Seiffert, 1923-1948

Seldes - Sonn, 1923-1946

Sothern - Symons, 1923-1945

Tabouis - Train, 1923-1948

Trattner- Uren, 1929-1942

Vail - Van Dyke, 1923-1940

Van Gelder - Whale, 1917-1948

Wharton - Wynmalen, 1922-1948

Yard - Yver, 1928-1948

Subseries 1B: Advertising Records (large gaps), 1927 September-1964

Monthly Summary of Advertising Expense, 1927 September-1932 February

Monthly Summary of Advertising Expense, 1944 May-1948 December

Newspaper Advertising, 1930 February-1932 March

Newspaper Advertising, 1932 March-1934 November

Magazine Advertising, 1931 July-1933 February

Magazine Advertising, 1943 January-1945

Newspaper Advertising, 1942 November-1944 May

Newspaper Advertising, 1945 May-December

Miscellaneous, 1951-1964

Series 2: Art Department Files (large gaps), 1897-1951

Letterbook, containing copies of letters, mostly from Henry Wysham Lanier (son of Sidney Lanier), to artists, authors, and others, regarding illustrations (drawings, engravings, photographs, etc.) for publications, 1897

Downey, Indian Fighting Army, 1941

Graham, Wind in the Willows, 1946

Nevins, Ordeal of the Union, 1947

A (General), 1949

Adams, March of Democracy, 1949

B (General), 1949

Bailey, Gospel in Hymns, 1949

Bining, History of the U. S., 1949

C (General), 1949

Carpenter, American History Text (General Correspondence), 1949

Carpenter, American History Text (A-D), 1949

Carpenter, American History Text (E-L), 1949

Carpenter, American History Text (M-Z), 1949

Carpenter, American History Text (Correspondence with State Publicity Agencies), 1949

Carpenter, American History Text (Idea File), 1949

Carpenter, American History Text (Correspondence with U.S. Government), 1949

D (General), 1949

F (General), 1949

G (General), 1949

Galsworthy, 1949

H (General), 1949

Huc, High Road in Tartary, 1949

I (General), 1949

Interoffice, 1949

J (General), 1949

K (General), 1949

L (General), 1949

Lewis, Building Our Communities, 1949