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
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
M-022: August Chouteau Journal
Auguste Chouteau (1749-1829), one of the founders of St. Louis, Missouri, was also a fur trader, territorial judge, and patriarch of the most influential French family in early St. Louis history. Written in English, Spanish, and French, the documents relate to exclusive trading rights among the Osage, including receipts; relationship between the Spanish and Chouteau; and treaty of peace with Great Britain and suppression of Indian hostilities. The journal is a fragment of Chouteau's "Narrative of the Settlement of St. Louis." It is the only eyewitness documentation on the activities surrounding the founding of St. Louis. A literal translation from the original manuscript by J. Givin Brown and J. Wilmer Stith was published by the St. Louis Mercantile Library Association in 1857 in the 12th Annual Report and again in 1989., 1 journal ca. 1810-1820, unsigned but in Chouteau's handwriting on ledger paper, 14pp. [in French]
M-114: Records of the Saint Louis Lyceum
The Saint Louis Lyceum was a public forum for lectures and debates in early St. Louis. It was founded in 1838 in the spirit of the Lyceum Movement, a national effort towards self-improvement and community led education for adults. It maintained and built upon the library of the city's first subscription library, the St. Louis Library Association, which was founded in the early 1820s. The Lyceum overlapped in activities and collections with the Young Men's Lyceum and the Mechanics' Institute of St. Louis. The archives and books of these early libraries were bought by the Mercantile Library in the early 1850s, and became a cornerstone bibliographic collection at the Mercantile. This collection was reassembled from the stacks of the Mercantile through study of the original accession records concerning the acquisition in 1851. The larger collection consists of approximately 500 printed books and pamphlets from this early book collection, some with association annotations, original ownership marks, or bookplates. Most of the scanned materials relate to the week to week meeting minutes, circulation records, and founding documents.
M-164 St. Louis Fairs and Exhibitions Collection
The collection concerns the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair of 1864 and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. It includes photographs, official fair newspapers, a typescript history, brochures, and other ephemera of two of St. Louis's most noteworthy and historic celebrations.
M-169: The Emil Boehl Collection
Emil Boehl was a St. Louis photographer who primarily focused his camera on St. Louis streets, buildings, and locales. Born in Calvoerde, Germany, in 1839, Boehl immigrated to St. Louis in 1854. After serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, Boehl returned to St. Louis in 1864 and opened a photography studio with Lawrence Koenig that spring. With Koenig focusing on portraiture, Boehl became one of the most prolific St. Louis scenic photographers active in the latter half of the 19th Century. The Boehl/Koenig partnership lasted until 1897. Boehl retired from photography in 1919 and died later that year on the 12th of December. The Emil Boehl Collection consists of three series. The collection contains images dating from 1850 to ca. 1906. The collection’s archival materials include photographic prints and negatives. According to historians Peter E. Palmquist and Thomas R. Kailbourn, Boehl’s career was from 1864 to 1919, and he was known to sell prints of Thomas Easterly’s daguerreotypes. In light of those facts, some dates in the Boehl Collection may be labelled incorrectly and/or some images may not be Boehl’s.
M-170: Dick Lemen Collection of St. Louis Photographs
Dick Lemen, river enthusiast and historian, utilized his skills in photography to preserve the fading memory of America’s inland waterways. Both a collector of historic images, and a photographer himself, Mr. Lemen actively worked to document the boats and people of the river. To show the rich detail in images, he often enlarged sections of photographs, emphasizing an intricate ships rail, or a single child playing. His photography work was exhibited at several institutions, including the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and the St. Louis Mercantile Library. Richard Lemen, a life long resident of the Moline, IL area, died June 13, 2001 at the Illinois Veterans Home, in Quincy. Originally the images were captured on glass plate negatives by photographer Charles Clements Holt (1866-1925) and his staff in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Negatives of these images were collected in the later part of the century by Dr. William G. Swekosky, as part of his work to document St. Louis’ historic houses facing demolition. In the early 1960s, a friend and fellow photographer, Dick Lemen arraigned with Dr. Swekosky to borrow the glass plates to make prints, later purchasing the negatives. While Dr. Swekosky had obtained the images as documents of structures, Mr. Lemen focused on the residents and details of everyday life of St. Louis, and brought the streets to life. In the 1980s Mr. Lemen donated the images he printed from these negatives to the St. Louis Mercantile Library. Other portions of Mr. Lemen’s personal papers and photograph collections are located to the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, Iowa. www.rivermuseum.com
M-365: Latta-Hord Laundry Company Photograph
This collection consists of a single photograph purchased from Ian Brabner Rare Americana. It's a circa 1909 photograph of the Latta-Hord Laundry Company in St. Louis, Missouri. The building has clean new signs advertising "We Want Your Work". The company's employees include various women posed together at the corner of the building and men who stand to the sides next to the company's horse-drawn carriages. Others peer out of the second story windows.
M-378: Eugene A. Atwater St. Louis Tornado Photographs
This collection consists of four photographs which document the damage inflicted by the 1896 tornado which hit Saint Louis, Missouri on May 27, 1896. Although the date listed on each of the photographs is consistent with the date of the storm, the photographs may have been taken at a later date. Other photographs documenting the storm damage show a greater amount of debris than is visible in this collection. These photographs were taken by St. Louis photographer Eugene A. Atwater. Two of the photographs document the damage on Lafayette Avenue and Mississippi Avenue in what is today St. Louis’ Lafayette Square neighborhood.
M-393: Sale of Real Estate Broadside and Manuscript
I Jno. K. Walker Sheriff as hereby certify that caused to be put up at the following named places a copy of this advertisement twenty days before the sale -- before the 30th day of March 1831 at the court house doors, at Fashnughty Barber Shop, at the Missouri Hotel at the city Hotel, at the Green Tree Tavern in the city of St. Louis, at Phillys Tavern in Bonhomnic, at Blacksmith Shop 5 miles east of Manchester, at -- Store in Manchester, at Lamisi Store in same place, -- McDonald's Mill in St. Ferdinand Township at Owens Station at Thomas Shop, at Connelly Grocery in Florissant, and at I. Aubuchon's -- same village, one at H. Jofo Tavern on Florissant Road -- at Darny -- Loc -- -- in St. Louis Township. Ten of the most public places in the county. Shff cost $5.00 Jno. K. Walker Shff.
M-514 Early St. Louis Glass Plate Photograph Collection
This collection of glass plate negatives depicts scenes of St. Louis at the turn of the 20th century including the construction of the 1904 World’s Fair in Forest Park, the newly built Compton Hill Water Tower, the Cathedral Basilica, the St. Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts and Brookings Hall at Washington University, a variety of farm houses and homes around the city, steamboats along the riverfront, and families enjoying various activities, picnicking, shopping, etc.
M-552 Scudder, John Missouri Hotel Lease Indenture
Manuscript lease indenture between John Scudder and Benjamin L. Turnbull to lease the Missouri Hotel in St. Louis. The manuscript, dated November 15, 1836, contains witness signatures and an inventory of hotel goods, including feather-beds, lamps, linens, and a Franklin stove. The document indicates the property will be used as a tavern or house of entertainment, and a list of payments is included on the back.

Mercantile Library Collections Directory

Mercantile Special Collections Directory

Barriger Library Collections Directory

Barriger Special Collections Directory

Pott Library Collections Directory

Pott Special Collections Directory