Collections : [Rare Book & Manuscript Library]

Correspondence, photographs, photographic plates, photostats, clippings, periodicals, and books relating to the history and literature of boxing and the prize ring from Homer to the 20th century. The correspondence, with related clippings, photographs, and photostats, is chiefly addressed to Magriel from outstanding figures in the sports world and from his publishers. It is arranged under general subject headings. Also, an unpublished typescript by Magriel on the history of pugilism.

The Corporation awards grants to nonprofit organizations and institutions for projects that are broadly educational in nature and that show promise of having national or international impact. Certain appropriations are made for activities, such as Corporation-led initiatives that are administered by the foundation's officers. The trustees set the overall policies of the foundation and have final authority to approve all grants above $50,000 recommended by the program staff. Grants of $25,000 or less, called discretionary grants, are made upon the approval of the president and are reported to the board; larger discretionary grants, those between $25,000 and $50,000, are also reviewed by a Corporation-wide group, which makes recommendations to the president. (from Program Guidelines 2003-2004 (http://www.carnegie.org/sub/program/areas.html))

Letters written to Gouverneur Morris from many of his contemporaries including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, John Paul Jones, Nathaniel Greene, Philip Schuyler, Robert Morris, George Plater, William Short, William T. Franklin, and Thomas Pinckney. Letters from Gouverneur Morris to George Washington, John Jay, Lafayette, Philip Schuyler, Nathaniel Greene, and others. Personal correspondence from Madame Foucault, John Parish, and others. Manuscripts and documents relating to events in which Morris was a participant or interested party such as the Genet Affair and the "Lost Million" Affair; diplomatic correspondence with French ministers of foreign affairs, 1792-1794, and miscellaneous articles and reports by Morris, many on public finance and economics.

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, financial records, photographs, drawings, engravings, and printed materials of Benjamin. The personal and business papers concern Benjamin's publishing and bookselling company, his numerous benefactions, the disposal of his collections, and many printed catalogs for his company, 1883-1940. The two major correspondents are the business and financial records for the printing, binding, and extensive promotion through a network of agents of Stedman's A LIBRARY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE FROM THE EARLIEST SETTLEMENT TO THE PRESENT TIME; new ed. (New York, W.E. Benjamin, 1894). There are also letters, manuscripts, documents, and drawings of English literary figures collected by Benjamin. Among these are six letters of George Eliot, 47 letters and six manuscripts of John Ruskin, and three letters and one manuscript of Joseph Mallord Turner, with four letters relating to the artist. In addition there ten drawings and watercolors by Ruskin.

These files have been compiled by the Rare Book and Manuscript Library from its origin in 1930 through the present day. The material derives largely from gifts, and the occasional purchase; much of the subject file in particular is made of ephemera included in the American Type Founders, Co. Library, purchased in 1942. Prospectuses and information sent by fine presses and book artists are added to the relevant files in an ongoing fashion. The files cover subjects from the beginning of printing to the current day.

Correspondence, manuscripts, original political cartoons, printed and photostatic materials relating to the political and social activities of the Society of Tammany, or Columbian order. Most of the correspondence is concerned with the formation of the Kilroe Tammaniana Collection, Kilroe's collection of books, documents, manuscripts, posters, cartoons, etc. relating to Tammany Hall. Also, letters from various members of the Tammany organization. The manuscripts include typescripts of Kilroe's works such as A COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SAINT TAMMANY and TAMMANY HALL AND THE TAMMANY SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES. In addition there are manuscript and typescript records of various Tammany Societies with particular emphasis on the New York City Society and the New York County Democratic Party organization. Among the cartoons are 22 by John Tinney McCutcheon (1870-1949), over half of which deals with Tammany and New York politics while the remainder concerns national politics with an emphasis on presidential campaigns.

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.