Association of St. Louis Area Archivists
 

 

 

St. Louis Mercantile Library, University of Missouri-St. Louis 

WEB SITE:

http://www.umsl.edu/mercantile/

ADDRESS:

Thomas Jefferson Library
University of Missouri-St. Louis
8001 Natural Bridge Road
St. Louis, MO 63121

TELEPHONE:

(314) 516-7240 (General switchboard)
(314) 516-7280 (Special Collections Curator)

FAX NUMBER:

(314) 516-7241

CONTACT:

John Hoover, Director
Debroah Cribbs, Special Collections Curator

HOURS:

Rare Book and Manuscript Reading Room: Mon 12:30 - 4:00pm; Tues-Thurs 9am - 4pm; Fri 12:30pm - 4pm

ACCESS AND USE:

Open to all serious researchers, students and library members. Membership is encouraged but not prerequisiteto access; however fees apply at member/non-member scale as forphotographic services, etc.

SPECIAL SERVICES AVAILABLE:

  • Interlibrary loan
  • Tours
  • Audio-visual equipment
  • Photographic services
  • Educational programs
  • Photocopying
  • Wheelchair access
  • Publications
  • Exhibits
  • Microfilming
  • Speakers' bureau
  • Consultant services
  • Online catalog (OCLC)

GENERAL SCOPE AND CONTENTS

The Mercantile Library possesses broad primary and secondary research collections of material related to various American studies subjects. Some subjects-particularly Western Americana, have been collected in extensive depth. The collection also contains broadly developed subjects related to the general humanities-especially history, world travel, and exploration-the social sciences, and the history of the natural sciences and the history of technology

  1. St. Louis, MO. and American history collections
  2. Early Missouri and Illinois newspapers (1817-1900)
  3. Early manuscripts dealing with the settling of St. Louis and with American exploration
  4. Early science and alchemy collection from the 1500's
  5. 19th century illustrated books, maps, and atlases.
  6. Records of the St. Louis Mercantile Library Association, a cultural institution spanning 150 years of service.
  7. Agricultural History
  8. Prints, Historic Maps, Literary, Bibliographical, Fine Printing studies.

MAJOR COLLECTIONS:

  1. John W. Barriger III Collection, (1880-1976), 500 ft. Includes 40,000 photos, manuscripts, railroad business papers, and artifacts related to rail transporation.
  2. Waterways Journal Archives (Pott Collection) (1965-1985), 100 ft. Relating to various river basin environment commissions, river waterways, construction, barge and towing industry.
  3. General Daniel Bissell Letterbook, (1800-1820).
  4. Auguste Chouteau Papers, (1787-1918). Bound volume.
  5. Auguste Chouteau Journal. Describes the founding and settlement of St. Louis.
  6. Joseph Philipson Account Books, (1807-1809), Early St. Louis merchant.
  7. Agricultural Publications, mid 1800's-1930's, 100 lin. ft. of agricultural and horticultural publications consisting of journals, newspapers, pamphlets, and broadsides.
  8. Bookseller's and Rare Book and Manuscript Auction Catalogues, 40,000 printed items.
  9. Robert Campbell, (1804-1879), ledger books, copy books of business correspondence, check books with copious notations, monthly business reports for various enterprises, account books; legal papers, personal books, maps, government documents, and printed ephemera, 1832-1920's, 35 lin. ft.
  10. Ethan Allen Hitchcock, (1798-1870). 250 printed and bound manuscript volumes on alchemy from the 16th-19th c.
  11. Norbury Wayman Collection. A collection of maps, guidebooks, and ephemera concerning the U.S. by subject, alphabetically arranged in ca. 50 lin. ft.; 2500-3000 folded maps of other separate pieces.
  12. E. Phillips Oppenheim Collection. Books and papers related to popular mystery writer.
  13. John Mason Peck Collection. Manuscripts of Rockspring Theological Seminary, the first institution of higher education in Illinois.
  14. St. Louis Globe-Democrat Collection. Clipping files, photo files, morgue, and historical files of the newspaper. Over 1,000,000 envelopes and approximately 10,000,000 separate clippings; over 225,000 photographs arranged by subject. The equivalent of over 200 office file cabinets of material. Approximately 700 glass plate negative recently duplicated and arranged. Unarranged archival collection of Globe Democrat business records including early ledgers and later subscription records, memorabilia, ca. 100 bound volumes of Globe Democrat and St. Louis Post Dispatch final editions. Ca. 5000 tearsheet versions of political cartoons by Globe cartoonist, Don Hesse, occurring in multiple copies, approximately 50 feet, folded.
  15. St. Louis Imprint Collection. Printing history of St. Louis, books, pamphlets, broadsides, 1808-1945.
  16. Records of the St. Louis Lyceum. Records of the immediate predecessor library of the St. Louis Mercantile Library and early St. Louis libraries, such as the St. Louis Library Association; ca. 1 foot of manuscript materials in ledgers and other record books. Also the extant book collection of the first St. Louis library collection, approximately 500 printed books and pamphlets.
  17. World War I Pamphlets, 1914-1918. Ca. 600 items in 10 boxes, each item folded.
  18. Ephraim George Squier Collection. Books, pamphlets, and papers of Squier, early American ethnologist.
  19. Archives of the St. Louis Mercantile Library Association. Historical records of the St. Louis Mercantile Library, the oldest continuing general library west of the Mississippi River. 350 ft. of papers, ledgers, printed materials are currently in 26 organized departmental or other record groups.
  20. Early Paper Money. Collection of separately printed pieces of examples of early American paper bank notes with focus on St. Louis and Missouri banks. Pre-Civil War. Some eighteenth century. 1 box.
  21. Paul V. Chamless Print Collection. Ca. 1000 separate maps, prints of cities and towns, agricultural scienes, American views collected by Chamless.
  22. Early American Sheet Music Collection. Ca. 1000 pieces of American sheet music, pre-1870, in bound volumes or separates.
  23. Theater Program Collection. Ca. 700 separate theatre programs, American, local, and regional.
  24. Hinton Rowen Helper Collection. The extant library of Helper, southern abolitionist and author of The Impending Crisis and other anti-slavery tracts. Including 300 abolitionist pamphlets currently bound together (ca. 1800-1850), various imprints. Helper's annotated copies of his own works.
  25. Historic Newspaper Collection. 100,000-125,000 single issues in 150 major titles, numerous minor listings, 800 cubic ft.

GUIDES:

  1. Manuscripts Relating to Missouri and Louisiana
  2. Chronological List of Missouri and Ilinois Newspapers, 1808-1897
  3. A Guide to the Shorter Manuscript Collections of the St. Louis Mercantile Library.
  4. A Guide to the John Mason Peck Collection.
  5. A Guide to the Ethan Allen Hitchcock Alchemy Collection.
  6. A Guide to the Federal Barge Lines Collections.
  7. An Inventory of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat Glass Plate Negative Collection
  8. An Inventory and Guide to the Archives of the St. LouisMercantile Library Association
  9. A list of various exhibit catalogues, also serving as collection guides, is available on request.

GUIDES:

(1/2008)

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