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Publishers' Weekly Collection

Notifications

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

R.R. Bowker company

The company was founded by Frederick Leypoldt, a German immigrant who worked as a bookseller and recognized the need for good bibliographic information to make the book business more efficient. In 1870 Leypoldt issued the first edition of his Annual American Catalogue, a precursor to Books In Print. In 1872 he published the first issue of Publishers Weekly, and in 1876 the first issue of Library Journal. In 1878 Leypoldt's company was acquired by Richard Rogers Bowker. Leypoldt and Bowker also founded such standard book-industry reference sources as Literary Marketplace and Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory. The company has been bought and sold a couple of times since the 1960s.

The collection consists of correspondence and printed matter of Publishers' Weekly, the periodical published by the R. R. Bowker Company, and correspondence of Frederic G. Melcher, company president and editor of the weekly. The collection contains material relating to the book publishing industry's problems during World War II, especially paper shortages; the industry's response to the demands of the war, for example, helping to provide libraries for military personnel; and its dealings with public and private groups such as the War Production Board, Office of War Information, Office of the Alien Property Custodian, the Victory Book Committee, the Book Industry Committee for Roosevelt, and the Council on Books in Wartime. There is also material from the early Roosevelt years (1933-1934), such as records of hearings by the National Recovery Administration on a code of fair practices and competition for the booksellers' trade industry and the textbook publishers.

Unprocessed.

Folder list prepared by Alicia Corona '14 in 2011.

Publisher
Manuscripts Division
Finding Aid Author
Alicia Corona
Finding Aid Date
2008
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.

Collection Inventory

Office of War Information, 1942-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Alien Property Custodian, 1942-1947. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Libraries - Army, 1941-1946. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Standard government form of bid for books.

Physical Description

1 folder

OPM, OPA, and OEM - Statements and Rulings, 1941-1942. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Office of Production Management (OPM), Office of Price Administration (OPA), Office for Emergency Management (OEM).

Physical Description

1 folder

Papers on War Insurance and Foreign Owned Property, 1941-1943. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Includes information about British and American war insurance.

Physical Description

1 folder

War Manpower Commission, 1943-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Exports and Warfare Economy, 1942-1944. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Includes papers concerning charge accounts.

Physical Description

1 folder

Papers from Office of Facts and Figures, OPA, and OPM Correspondence, 1942-1946. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Transportation, 1942-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Wages, 1942-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Libraries - Army, Navy, Air Corps, 1941-1946. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Propaganda, 1940-1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Book Campaigns, 1941-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Treasury Stickers, 1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Education - G.I. Bill of Rights, 1944-1946. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Memorial Suggestions, 1944. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Veteran's Memorial Library.

Physical Description

1 folder

Book Mobilization Conference, 1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

John Murray Plan, 1941-1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Prisoners of War, 1942-1943. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Soliders' Vote Bill, 1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Books for the Home Front Campaign, 1943-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

War Production Board, 1941-1946. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Defense savings, trade cooperation.

Physical Description

1 folder

European Governments in Exile, 1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Keep Well Campaign, 1942-1943. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Book Industry Committee for Roosevelt, 1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Victory Book Campaign, 1941-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Book Trade Campaign, 1942-1943. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

National Industrial Recovery Administration, 1934. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Hearing on Code of Fair Practices and Competition. Presented by the Booksellers Trading Industry.

Physical Description

1 folder

National Industrial Recovery Administration, 1934. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Hearing on Code of Fair Practices and Competition. Presented by the Text Book Publishing Industry.

Physical Description

1 folder

National Industrial Recovery Administration, 1934. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Hearing on the Retail Code.

Physical Description

1 folder

National Industrial Recovery Administration, 1934. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Hearing on the booksellers trade.

Physical Description

1 folder

National Industrial Recovery Administration, 1934. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Hearing on the retail trade.

Physical Description

1 folder

Papers Concerning National Industrial Recovery Administration, 1933-1935. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Paper Curtailment, 1942-1946. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Codes of National Recovery Administration, 1933-1934. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Paper Orders, 1943-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Papers on National Code Authority, 1933-1935. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Includes information on various publishers.

Physical Description

1 folder

General Materials on Paper, 1941-1945. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Includes materials on paper design, paper makers, paper rationing, and paper grants.

Physical Description

1 folder

Paper Salvage Drive, 1941-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Personnel - War Organizations, 1941-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Wholesales and Retail, 1933-1934. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Booksellers Code, 1934-1935. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Includes code for rental and public libraries.

Physical Description

1 folder

Textbook Code, 1934. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Retail Code, 1933-1935. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Periodicals, 1934. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Codes - Administration and Complaint, 1934. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Codes - Subscription Publishing, 1934-1935. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Codes - Trade Publishing, 1933-1935. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

October conference and drafts.

Physical Description

1 folder

Wartime Book Manufacturing and Design, 1941-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Paper - Waste Paper, Wrapping Paper, and Cartons, 1941-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Extra Paper Grants, 1943-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Price Ceilings, 1942-1946. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Inventories, 1942-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Surplus Property Disposal, 1946. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Binding - Book Cloth, 1941-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Binding - Wire, 1942-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Metals, 1942-1946. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Office Equipment, 1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Controlled Materials, 1943. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Priorities and Allocations, 1941-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Containers, 1943-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Inks, 1943-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Glue, 1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Trade in Wartime: Stock, 1944-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Trade in Wartime: Shipping and Transportation, 1943-1946. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Trade in Wartime: Graphic Arts Emergency Council, 1942-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Trade in Wartime: Rationing, 1943-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Trade in Wartime: Rents, 1942-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Trade in Wartime: Publisher Sales Practices, 1943-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Trade in Wartime: Essentiality of Books, 1942-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Libraries in the War, 1940-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Army, Books in the Miscellaneous Information, 1942-1946. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Children's Reading in Wartime, 1942-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Book Publishing in Wartime, 1942-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Book Stores in Wartime, 1942-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

World War I - General Publishing Problems, 1939-1943. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

World War II - General Publishing Problems, 1941-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Publishers' Weekly Articles on Book Trade in Wartime, 1939-1941. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Council of Books in Wartime, 1942-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Government Regulations for Publishers, 1918-1923. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

War Production Board - Miscellaneous, 1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Small Business Committee, 1942. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Postal and Express Rates During Wartime, 1942-1944. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Rehabilitation, 1944-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Authors in Wartime, 1940-1945. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Print, Suggest