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St. Louis Mercantile Library Special Collections
The special collections of the St. Louis Mercantile Library consist of over 400 individual collections with archival materials numbering in the millions, including over 100 historic newspaper titles, presidential letters, early travel diaries and civil war era letters, fur trade records and the newspaper and printing morgue of the St. Louis Globe Democrat, some of which is available digitally. The M-Series of collections represents the core of the Mercantile's holdings. Finding aids and descriptions can be accessed from the library's website through the Mercantile Special Collections Directory.
St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri-St. Louis
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- M-008 Thomas Hart Benton Collection
- Created by Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858); early senator from Missouri who served six terms equaling thirty years in office. Included are the handwritten lecture, "Progress of the Age," delivered at the St. Louis Mercantile Library Association, 1850; 1 letter from 1829; and 2 letters from 1858, one from J.B. Brant concerning Benton's health. Senator Benton was among the first of many illustrious figures to speak at the St. Louis Mercantile Library on November 14, 1850. This particular speech, presented to the Library by Senator Benton, himself, and several letters make up the Mercantile's small collection of primary materials by or concerning Thomas Hart Benton
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- M-015: William Cullen Bryant
- American poet and newspaper editor William Cullen Bryant wrote this letter to S. N. Holliday, Esquire, concerning the poem "Thanatopsis".
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- M-078: Quincy Library [Illinois] 1841-1857
- Handwritten record of books purchased by Quincy Library [Illinois], date and price, 1841-1857.
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- M-606 Patton, Samuel N. California Gold Rush Letter
- This letter, dated April 21, 1852, was written by former Philadelphia resident Samuel N. Patton. Writing to a friend from Rich Gulch in Calaveras County, Patton describes his experience moving to California to be a miner, traveling through the boomtown of San Francisco and the varying landscape of the region. He also describes meetings with friends and his views on gold fever. The letter offers a new migrant’s perspective on the business practices, social relationships, and natural environment at the heart of the California Gold Rush.
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- M-8-2 Thomas Hart Benton Collection
- A collection of documents and images from Thomas Hart Benton, a 19th Century Missouri politician, US Senator and US Representative.
Mercantile Library Collections Directory
Mercantile Special Collections Directory
Barriger Library Collections Directory
Barriger Special Collections Directory