AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY
M ANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS
NAME OF COLLECTION:
LOCATION(S):
Taylor Family, Papers, 1880-1937.
Mss. boxes T
Mss. octavo vols. T
Mss. folio vols. T
SIZE OF COLLECTION:
3 boxes, 1 octavo volume, 1 folio volume.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON COLLECTION:
For biographical information see AAS newsclippings file. See also, AAS Proceedings, vol. 51 (1941), p.
237-241.
SOURCE OF COLLECTION:
Octavo volume and papers on state laws the gifts of Charles Henry Taylor, 1917, 1926. The state law
material was transferred from Readers’ Services, 1979.
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION:
Charles Henry Taylor (1846-1921) was the founder and developer of the Boston Globe and its editor for
forty-eight years. He was a veteran of the Civil War and had also served in the Massachusetts
legislature. His son, Charles Henry Taylor, Jr. (1867-1941), was treasurer and director of the Globe
Newspaper Company for forty-four years, was known as an antiquarian and collector of rare books and
prints, and held memberships in many historical and literary societies and scholarly organizations.
This collection contains correspondence of Charles Henry Taylor and Charles Henry Taylor, Jr., from
renowned publishers and journalists, book collectors, businessmen, and friends, 1880-1937. Included
are references to articles for publication, Associated press meetings, the preparation of obituaries of
various publishers, and many letters from news correspondents, e.g., Arthur Elliott Sproul (
)
during his tour of Russia in 1917. There are also letters from notable friends, such as James Whitcomb
Riley (1849-1916), Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd (1888-1957), Kermit Roosevelt (1889-1943), and
Irvin McDowell Garfield (1870-1951), both sons of U.S. Presidents. Admiral Byrd's correspondence
includes radiograms from Antarctica in 1934. Many letters contain political commentaries on the
Election of 1928, the Bank Holiday of 1933, and the progress of World War I.
Of special interest is the correspondence of Major Carl Pullen Dennett ( - ), Deputy Commissioner
of the Department of Prisoners of War in Berne, Switzerland, 1914-1918, and Thomas Elliott Donnelley
(1867- ), Chief of the War Industries Board, Paper and Pulp Division, 1918-1919. Major Dennett
wrote of the work of the American Red Cross in the care and feeding of American prisoners of war in
Germany and included descriptions of their treatment by their captors, accounts of several daring
escapes, and lists of numbers of prisoners in specific camps, as well as photographs of the Red Cross
supplies being sent to them. The correspondence of Thomas Elliott Donnelley includes many form
letters sent to publishers concerning rules for the conservation of paper during the war and letters sent to
Charles Henry Taylor, Jr., Director of the New England District of the Paper and Pulp Division. Taylor
frequently gave his recommendations for conservation methods, accompanied by statistics.
Box 3 also contains papers compiled by Col. Charles Henry Taylor concerning bills introduced to the
Mass. legislature in 1895, 1896, 1897, and 1905. One set of papers refers to a bill, 1905, which sought
to require the printing of ingredients on all patent medicines. The Boston Globe received many letters
from medication manufacturers who opposed such a law and wanted to recruit the clout of the press
(e.g., the Peruna Drug Manufacturing Company, which detailed the contents of several drugs of that
era). Other letters, minutes of legislative hearings, and printed circulars and bills refer to efforts by the
Mass. Daily Press Association, 1895-1897, to introduce a bill revising the "presupposed malice" section
of the state Libel Law. They succeeded in accomplishing this in 1901, but were challenged in 1903 by
Rep. Frank B. Benett ( - ) of Saugus, Mass., who sought to strike the clause which allowed the
defendant to present evidence showing that acts of the plaintiff created a "reasonable suspicion" that the
alleged libel was true. There are also newspaper clippings dealing with these matters.
Box 3 also contains many letters of condolence following the death of Charles Henry Taylor, Sr., in
1921 as well as an octavo volume recording committee meetings and guest lists for a "Complimentary
Banquet to Col. Charles Henry Taylor" in April, 1887. Charles Henry Taylor, Jr., was also a collector of
Depression Era scrip, and Box 3 contains samples of this scrip from “M.J. Whittall Associates Ltd.” and
“Worcester Clearing House Association” along with related correspondence.
AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY
MANUSCRIPTS DEPARTMENT
Taylor Family, Papers, 1880-1937
CONTENTS LIST
Manuscript
Box
Folder
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
2
1
2
3
4
5
6
3
1
2
3
4
5
6
Contents
Correspondence: Abbott-Nye
Abbott-Ayres
Bacon-Byrd
Cabot-Fuller
Gaines-Gulliver
Haldeman-Hutchins
Jack-Knox
Langtry-Lynett
McAdie-Nye
Correspondence: O’Connell-War Industries Board,
General Correspondence
O’Connell-Price
Rasely-Russell
Sachs-Swem
Taylor-Voute
Wade-Zipperstein
War Industries Board, 1918: General Correspondence
Correspondence: War Industries Board, Charles Henry
Taylor, Jr.; Letters of Condolence; Papers re: state
laws; Depression Era scrip and related correspondence
War Industries Board correspondence with Charles
Henry Taylor, Jr., Regional New England Director,
1918-1919
Papers concerning proposed changes in Libel Law,
1895-1897
Papers concerning proposed changes in Libel Law and
Control of Patent Medicine, 1905
Letters concerning the death of Charles Henry Taylor,
June 1921
Letters concerning the death of Charles Henry Taylor,
June 1921
Depression Era scrip and related correspondence
Octavo
volume
“Complimentary Banquet to Col. Charles Henry
Taylor,” April 1887
Folio volume
Scrapbook with newspaper clippings relating to
printing processes