If you are interested in things presidential there are several. If you wish to find material relating to the Revolution and the Civil War, both are covered as are five centuries. But today I’m going to look at a category that often is overlooked although very well represented in this catalogue: business affairs.

Employing a relatively narrow definition, I find 16 items that begin with no. 16 – [Batchelder, A. G.]: [Papers of A. G. Batchelder]. 1898-1925 – Approximately forty documents relating to the automobile and the AAA, $400 and run all the way to no. 190 – [Wyoming]: [Manuscript Contract Regarding Supply of Beef to Soldiers Serving in Wyoming Territory], apparently executed at Fort Bridger on June 25th, 1869, $1,500. In between are the following:

40. The Archive of an Overland Mail Pioneer, $10,000

45. Candid Letters from a Pioneer American Merchant Traveler, Including John Jacob Astor’s backing of a Commercial Expedition to South America, $2,500

62. Autograph Letter, Signed, to American Fur Company Agent Pierre Chouteau, Jr., regarding U.S. Army debts for materials purchased during the Black Hawk War, $1,500

67. A Philadelphia Merchant’s Ledger, $1,500

135. Massive Manuscript Ledger Book of a New York Merchant, $900

136. Large Archive of Materials relating to the Pennsylvania oil industry (1864-79), $2,500

145. Exhaustive Archive of Records from an 18th Century Peruvian Merchant house [Lima. 1786-1842], $30,000

150. Manuscript Receipt for purchase from James Rivington, the only London based book-seller in America [Oct. 21, 1774], $400

151. Manuscript Document, signed by James Rivington, New York, June 23, 1794, $500

165. [Sioux Indians]: Group of Ten Receipts of payments by William J. Cullen, Superintendent of Indian Affairs at Lower Sioux Agency, 1858, $1,250

168. Autograph Letter Signed, from Thomas Sully regarding a commission for a painting, Philadelphia. May 31, 1869, $600

172. Archive of Land Transfer and Development Documents concerning Galveston, Texas and the Liverpool Commercial Bank. [Galveston & Liverpool. 1878-89], $15,000