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The Gerald T. and Charlotte B. Maxson printed ephemera collection contains over 5,000 pieces of assorted ephemera, the majority of which were commercially printed in the United States during the mid to late 19th-century.

The Gerald T. and Charlotte B. Maxson printed ephemera collection contains over 5,000 pieces of assorted ephemera, the majority of which were commercially printed in the United States during the mid to late 19th-century.

The Maxson collection provides a valuable resource for the study of 19th-century visual culture, commercial advertising, and humor in addition to the role of gender, ethnicity, and race in advertising. American businesses are the predominant focus of the collection, though many international businesses are also represented. While trade cards are by far the most prevalent type of ephemera found in this collection, an extensive array of genres are present including die cut scrapbook pieces, photographs, engravings, maps, serials, and manuscript materials.

The 23 binders that house the Maxson collection were arranged by the collectors themselves. Items are organized somewhat randomly in terms of topical arrangement. While pockets of related materials can be found here and there (for instance, the entirety of Volume 16 contains circus-related items while Volume 11 contains an extensive number of Shaker-related materials), for the most part any given subject may appear in any given volume. In some cases, items are clustered as a result of having been acquired together or due to a documented common provenance. Occasional typed annotations written by the Maxsons help provide additional context for certain items.

The Maxson Collection Subject Index serves as a volume-level subject index for materials found throughout the binders. The subjects indexed here are generally representative of both visual and commercial content. In addition to more general subjects, many names of specific people, places, buildings, events, and organizations that appear in the materials have also been listed. Researchers engaging with this collection should be aware that they will encounter numerous examples of racist caricatures, especially ones depicting African American, Native American, Irish, and Chinese people.

This collection is made up of 113 receipts for book and magazine purchases by the women's Interchange Book Club of West Newton, Massachusetts, between 1887-1898. Many of the receipts are lists of a dozen or more newly published works of literature, popular novels, travels and tales of foreign lands, a few children's titles, biographies, and more. Examples of magazine titles include Good Housekeeping, Scribner's Magazine, Popular Science, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, St. Nicholas, and many others. They purchased most often from Little, Brown and Company. Some receipts are for purchases of book and magazine lists, and orders from printers for hundreds of member lists and labels.

This collection is made up of 113 receipts for book and magazine purchases by the women's Interchange Book Club of West Newton, Massachusetts, between 1887-1898. Many of the receipts are lists of a dozen or more newly published works of literature, popular novels, travels and tales of foreign lands, a few children's titles, biographies, and more. Examples of magazine titles include Good Housekeeping, Scribner's Magazine, Popular Science, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, St. Nicholas, and many others. They purchased most often from Little, Brown and Company. Some receipts are for purchases of book and magazine lists, and orders from printers for hundreds of member lists and labels.

• The Land Beyond the Forest (1888) by Emily Girard.
• The Owl's Nest (1888) by E. Marlett.
• Robert Elsmere (1888) by Mary Ward.
• A translation of Erlach Court (1889) by Ossip Schubin.
• The Master of the Magicians (1890) by Elizabeth Phelps.
• A Waif of the Plains (1890) by Bret Harte.
• An Utter Failure (1891) by Miriam Coles Harris.
• A Capillary Crime and Other Stories (1892) by Francis David Millet.
• A Girl in the Karpathians (1892) by Ménie Muriel Dowie.
• Condemned as a Nihilist (1892) by G. A. Henty.
• Don Orsino (1892) by F. Marian Crawford.
• Gossip in a Library (1892) by Edmund Gosse.
• Green Fairy Book (1892) by Andrew Lang.
• In Arctic Seas. The Voyage of the Kite with the Peary Expedition... (1892)
• Men Must Work (1892) by Mrs. Romney.
• Ten Centuries of Toilet (1892) by Albert Robida.
• Uncle Remus and His Friends (1892) by Joel Chandler Harris.
• Drolls from Shadowland (1893) by J. H. Pearce.
• The Watchmaker's Wife (1893) by Frank Stockton.
• Some Old Puritan Love Letters (1894)
• Water Ghost and Others (1894) by John Kendrick Bangs.
• The Amateur Emigrant (1895) by Robert Louis Stevenson.
• Chinese Characteristics (1895) by Arthur Smith.
• The Land of Tawny Beasts (1895) by Pierre Maël.
• A Sawdust Doll (1895) by Anna de Koven.

The receipts also include publications by or about prominent writers or individuals Jane Austin, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas Hardy, Sir Walter Scott, Dante, Sonya Kovalevsky, Victor Hugo, St. Augustine, Honoré de Balzac, and many others.

The John D. Bagley photograph albums consist of three photograph albums created by John DuCharme Bagley IV of the Bagley family of Detroit, Michigan.

The John D. Bagley photograph albums consist of three photograph albums belonging to John DuCharme Bagley IV of the Bagley family of Detroit, Michigan.

The photograph albums document the life of John DuCharme Bagley IV over a period of twenty years or so. Bagley IV was clearly an enthusiastic amateur photographer who enjoyed documenting his family and friends. The photos in all three albums are snapshot-sized and mostly taken outdoors. While the earliest album (Volume I) is extensively captioned, the other two are not.

Volume 1:

The first volume (14 x 30 cm) includes images taken between 1903 and 1905, including numerous photographs taken during a Bagley family trip to Europe. Bagley IV was a teenager at the time. Identified family members documented in this album include his older sister Frances, younger brother Phil, parents John N. and Esther, and an “Aunt Frankie” who was likely Esther’s sister. This trip appears to have lasted several months, perhaps the better part of an entire year. Locations visited included the German Alps, Naples, Rome, Pompeii, Lake Lucerne, Amsterdam, and London. The family’s return to New York by steamship is also represented. The remainder of this album documents experiences on Woodcote Farm in Ionia, Michigan, as well as family life in Detroit and outdoor summer activities at Long Lake in Grand Traverse County, Michigan.

Volume 2:

The second volume (20.5 x 30.5 cm) contains material compiled during World War I and afterwards. Views of the U.S. Naval Academy and of Washington D.C. are included, and Bagley IV is shown in many images wearing a naval uniform. Several warships (including what appears to be the USS Pennsylvania, commissioned in 1916) are pictured from afar throughout the album. One series of snapshots shows an Armistice celebration taking place at an unidentified location. Several pages showcase scenic views taken during a train journey through an unidentified mountainous region. The bulk of the remaining pictures in this album consist of portraits of family and friends posing informally in urban, domestic, and rural settings. Bagley IV appears regularly, usually in a business suit, and in a couple of cases he can be seen standing next to a Bagley & Co. company vehicle. Also present is a large loose photo that shows John J. Bagley’s birthplace in Medina, New York, which was photographed in 1895.

Volume 3:

The third volume (20.5 x 30.5 cm) contains numerous photographs taken during visits to New Mexico and Colorado in 1908 as well as Oregon in 1909. Images in the New Mexico section highlight operations and personnel of the Maxwell Irrigated Land Company. Bagley IV’s younger brother Phil may have been involved with this company. While it is not entirely clear which photos were taken in Colorado, numerous images of logging operations and logging camps were most likely taken in Oregon. Also present are personal photos showing Bagley IV and his wife Mary visiting forests and beaches. The final section of the album includes photos of Bagley IV in a navy uniform and views of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.