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Hudson's Bay Company papers consist of correspondence, financial records, and a memorandum book of the Canadian-based company. Also included is a printed version of Andrew Burnaby's Travels through the Middle Settlements In North America... and a manuscript of Thoughts on the Furr Trade With the Indians in N. America, extracted from the papers of the late John Gray of Quebec (1768).

Hudson's Bay Company papers consist of 4 letters, 4 financial records, 1 memorandum book, and 1 printed book containing manuscript contents. The first five items are letters and documents that came from the Hudson Bay Company's post at the mouth of the Michipicoten River (1859-1870), including two business letters between employees Lieutenant Denis de Larondo and James Watts, and an account of payment to Indians living on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The next three items are financial records from the company's New Brunswick post on the Missinaibi Lake near Moose River (1872, 1889, 1914). The Hudson's Bay Company Memorandum book contains a copy of the Hudson's Bay Company charter; copies of the charters for each of the 13 colonies; a map of the towns and rivers . . . that were ceded to Britain by Spain according to the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht (pages 24-25); memoranda and account information such as shipment details, personnel payments, and lists of goods traded; a shaded pencil sketch of a carronade gun (pages 34-35); and various historical reports, including one tracking company stocks from 1676-1779. Other interesting documents include a list of the provisions needed to support 40 men for 6 months, a proposed station for ships in 1790, and "Information of Isaac Ogden of Quebec to David Ogden in London," which describes the interior of North America from the Hudson Bay to the Pacific and discusses terrain and water features, as well as fur trading potential for the regions.

The final item is a single vellum covered volume titled "HB 1770" that contains both a printed version of Andrew Burnaby's Travels through the Middle Settlements In North America... and a manuscript of Thoughts on the Furr Trade With the Indians in N. America extracted from the papers of the late John Gray of Quebec (1768). The volume begins with a map of North America from 1763, just before the beginning of the 107-pages of Burnaby's Travels. The Gray writings detail interaction with the land's native populations and methods of trading for furs in the area (36 pages). Buried in the final 64 blank pages are five pages documenting the Original Proprietors of the Hudsonbay Stock 1667, 7 pages of stock accounts from 1720-1789, and accounts from 1776-1790. The volume also houses a loose letter to the Hudson's Bay House in London confirming a shipment of goods with prices (1791).

This collection contains 25 letters and 1 book that historian Jared Sparks wrote about his work, about historical manuscripts, and about the historian's profession in the mid-19th century.

This collection contains 25 letters and 1 book that historian Jared Sparks wrote about his work, about historical manuscripts, and about the historian's profession in the mid-19th century.

Jared Sparks corresponded with historians and other acquaintances in the United States and England about books and prominent figures in American history, among other subjects. Many letters pertain to his attempts to procure manuscripts written by George Washington and to a proposed publication of Benjamin Franklin's papers. Between 1852 and 1857, Sparks most frequently wrote to bibliographer and antiquarian Henry Stevens. In his final letter, he described Japanese tourists visiting New York City (June 16, 1860). Mary C. Sparks wrote 1 letter to Henry Stevens (on behalf of her ill husband) in March 1855, and Josiah Quincy added a brief note to Sparks's letter of December 30, 1842. The collection also contains a copy of Sparks's Reply to the Strictures of Lord Mahon and Others on the Mode of Editing the Writings of Washington (1852) and a spine from an edition of his Life of Washington (enclosed in October 28, 1858).

For more information on each item, see the Detailed Box and Folder Listing below.