Arthur Collins Maclay Papers

Maclay, Arthur Collins (1853-1930)

Arthur Collins Maclay was an American lawyer, lecturer on the Far East, and author.

The collection consists of works, correspondence, financial records, photographs (including tintypes), a map, and printed matter of Maclay. The collection contains an autograph and typed manuscript of his novel A Budget of Letters from Japan (1886), the autograph manuscript of an unpublished novel, The Kingdom of New York, and two autograph manuscripts of articles, "The Anti-Suffrage Case" and "A Few Leaves from a Globe Trotter's Diary" (1878). There is also correspondence between Maclay and his brother, Robert Hall Maclay, a merchant in Tientsin, China, in which Robert describes his life in Tientsin; and a a sixteen page autograph manuscript report by Robert Hall Maclay sent to Russell & Co., publishers in Shanghai, of his journey to Chihli, Honan and Shantung, China, written in Peking on Jan. 12, 1875. Also included are manuscripts of travel lectures on China and Japan delivered by Maclay with accompanying photographs used to illustrate the lectures and flyers to publicize them. In addition, there are statements of account of the Maclay brothers' estates. There is also a group of glass lantern slides and negatives with images of rural scenes, urban and industrial scenes, maps, buildings and landscapes, and portraits of people in Romania, Japan, India, China, and Italy.

Arranged in this order: manuscripts, correspondence, The Kingdom of New York, printed matter, lectures, photographs (in flat boxes nos. 4 & 5), and stereopticon slides.

The collection was formed as a result of a departmental practice of combining into one collection manuscript material of various accessions relating to a particular author.

Publication by Maclay: A Budget of Letters from Japan (New York: A.C. Armstrong and Son, 1886)

Gift of Elizabeth M. Trowbridge in 1976 and 1981.

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Folder inventory prepared by Alicia Corona '13 in 2011. Lexy deGraffenreid updated the Conditions Governing Access note in January 2025.

No appraisal information is available.

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Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Arthur Collins Maclay Papers, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Publisher

Manuscripts Division

Finding aids author

Alicia Corona

Date

2008

Creator

Princeton University. Library. Special Collections

Maclay, Arthur Collins (1853-1930)

Subject

American fiction -- 19th century

Brothers -- United States -- 20th century

Suffrage -- United States -- 19th century

People

Maclay, Robert Hall

Organization

Russell & Company (Guangzhou, China)

Place

Bo Hai (China) -- History

China -- Description and travel -- 19th century

China -- photographs

Henan Sheng (China) -- Description and travel

Japan -- Description and travel -- 19th century

Japan -- photographs

Shandong Sheng (China) -- Description and travel

Tientsin (China) -- Social life and customs. -- 19th century

Language

English

Form

Correspondence

Lectures

Manuscripts

Maps -- 19th century

photographs

Reports

Slides

Tintypes