A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Columbus, Christopher forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents:
This material consists primarily of popular literature and visual imagery about Columbus' discovery of the New World. There is very little information about Columbus' personal life.
Printed images make up the largest portion of the material. These images consist mostly of engravings and chromolithographs depicting various subject matter including the house where Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy; the landing of Columbus in the New Land; a view of the ruins of his castle in St. Domingo; portraits; his coat of arms and Columbus presenting the products of the New World to Ferdinand and Isabella.
Most of the color images were made in 1892 and include Columbus' first view of the New World, his landing in the New World, his claiming of San Salvador for Spain, and his death.
There are a number of publications. Among the pamphlets are "Christopher Columbus and How He Received and Imparted the Spirit of Discovery" by Justin Winsor published in Boston in 1891. "A New and Fresh English Translation of the Letter of Columbus Announcing the Discovery of America" by Samuel Eliot Morrison (1959) is an English translation of Columbus' celebrated letter of 1493 describing to Ferdinand and Isabella his first voyage to the Indies.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged by type of document and includes print and color images, articles, pamphlets, and a raised cardboard portrait.
Materials in the Archives Center:
Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Missing Title
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Christopher Columbus is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
World's Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.) Search this
Genre/Form:
Business ephemera
Ephemera
Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
