Edward Eberstadt & Sons records
Scope and Contents
The records document the business activity of Edward Eberstadt and include records from three of his firms: Hudson Book Company, Edward Eberstadt, and Edward Eberstadt & Sons. While some material dates to Eberstadt's early years in business, most of the collection documents Eberstadt's business relationship with William Robertson Coe (Eberstadt was Coe's agent), and the formation of the Coe Collection of Western Americana, which was donated to Yale in the 1940s. Records include financial records, acquisition records, correspondence between Eberstadt and Coe and between Eberstadt and other dealers, and descriptions of rare books and manuscripts, including some transcripts of manuscripts.
Dates
- 1910-2018
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Edward Eberstadt & Sons Records is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Edward Eberstadt, 1959, and of Charles F. Eberstadt, 1974.
November 2018 acquisition: Gift of Michael D. Heaston, 2018.
Arrangement
Organized into seven series: I. Financial Records, 1910-1945. II. Correspondence, 1920-1954. III. Appraisal Records, 1943-1953. IV. Acquisition Files, circa 1920-circa 1950. V. Catalog Files, 1942-1951, undated. VI. Other Papers, 1930-1945. VII. November 2018 Acquisition, circa 1929-2018, undated.
Extent
16.34 Linear Feet (46 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The records document the business activity of Edward Eberstadt and include records from three of his firms: Hudson Book Company, Edward Eberstadt, and Edward Eberstadt & Sons. While some material dates to Eberstadt's early years in business, most of the collection documents Eberstadt's business relationship with William Robertson Coe (Eberstadt was Coe's agent), and the formation of the Coe Collection of Western Americana. Records include financial records, acquisition records, correspondence between Eberstadt and Coe and between Eberstadt and other dealers, and descriptions of rare books and manuscripts, including some transcripts of manuscripts.
Edward Eberstadt & Sons
Edward Eberstadt & Sons was a bookselling business in New York City, specializing in rare books and manuscripts related to the history of the American West. The business was started by Edward Eberstadt (1883-1958) as The Latin American Book Company, and later the Hudson Book Company in Tarrytown, NY, circa 1910, specializing in Latin Americana. The business later became Edward Eberstadt and, finally, Edward Eberstadt & Sons. Edward's sons Charles and Lindley Eberstadt joined the firm in the late 1930s and continued the business until Charles's death in 1974 and Lindley's death in 1985.
William Robertson Coe (1869-1955)
William Robertson Coe was born in Staffordshire, England, and immigrated to Pennsylvania at the age of 14. He began working in the insurance business soon thereafter, and by 1910 had risen to become the president of Johnson and Higgins Insurance Co. He was among the foremost collectors of Western Americana in the early twentieth century, and his gifts of rare books and manuscripts became the foundation of the Yale Collection of Western Americana at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Processing Information
Collection are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
This collection was partially processed in 2011. Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Former call numbers: Uncat WA MS Coe, Uncat WA MS Eberstadt
- Acquisition of manuscripts -- United States
- Antiquarian booksellers
- Antiquarian booksellers -- United States
- Book auctions -- United States
- Book collecting -- United States
- Book collectors -- United States
- Book collectors -- United States
- Book industries and trade -- United States
- Books -- Prices
- Booksellers and bookselling -- United States
- Bookstores -- United States
- Cataloging of manuscripts -- United States
- Coe, William Robertson, 1869-1955
- Eberstadt, Charles F. (Charles Francis), 1912-1974
- Eberstadt, Edward, 1883-1958
- Eberstadt, Lindley
- Edward Eberstadt & Sons
- Edward Eberstadt (Firm)
- Hudson Book Company
- Libraries and booksellers -- United States
- Manuscripts, American -- United States
- Rare books -- United States
- West (U.S.) -- Bibliography
- Yale Collection of Western Americana
- Title
- Guide to the Edward Eberstadt & Sons Records
- Author
- by Lisa Conathan
- Date
- 2011. Revised: February 2023.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.