Collection documents James W. Queen & Company and its successors Leeds and Northrup Company, Queen-Gray Company, and Gray Instrument Company, manufacturers of instruments for laboratory and industrial use. The collection contains catalogs, circulars, photographs, and miscellaneous publications and documents.
Scope and Contents:
The collection contains catalogs, circulars, blueprints, and photographs describing equipment and supplies offered for sale by James W. Queen & Company and its successors, including the Leeds and Northrop Company, the Queen Gray Company, and the Gray Instrument Company.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into three series.
Series 1, Catalogs and Circulars, 1896-1952
Series 2, Photographs, circa 1907
Series 3, Miscellaneous Materials, 1850-1951
Biographical / Historical:
James W. Queen & Company of Philadelphia manufactured scientific instruments for laboratory and industrial use. The company was founded in 1853 by James W. Queen (1811-1890), and J.G. Gray became the president in the 1890s. The company won several awards, including the Franklin Institute's John Scott Medal for the invention of the self-regulating aspect of their x-ray tubes. In 1912 James W. Queen & Company was reorganized into the Queen-Gray Company. After J.G. Gray's death in 1825, it became the Gray Instrument Company.
Sources
Charles E. Smart, The Makers Of Surveying Instruments In America Since 1700, (Troy, New York: Regal Art Press, 1962) (accessed 6 August 2010).
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, "Queen," Physical Sciences Collection- Surveying and Geodesy(accessed 6 August 2010).
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
AC0215, Instrument Society of America Collection, 1911-1969
Provenance:
Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
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:
Scientific apparatus and instruments industry Search this
The papers document the career of Roland C. Hawes (1908-) who worked in the field of immunnassay, spectrophotometry, scientific apparatus and instruments industry, and administrative duties at Applied Physics Corporation/Cary Instruments. The papers include correspondence, handwritten notes and sketches, memorandum reports, catalogs, printed material, patent documents, drawings, blueprints (original and diazo copies), and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, handwritten notes and sketches, memorandum reports, catalogs, printed material, patent documents, drawings, blueprints (original and diazo copies), and photographs document Hawes's work in the field of immunnassay, spectrophotometry, scientific apparatus and instruments industry, and administrative duties at Applied Physics Corporation/Cary Instruments.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into seven series.
Series 1, Personal files, 1938-1997
Series 2, Research files, A-Z, 1913 (1927-1990)
Series 3, Piness Laboratories, 1920-1979
Series 4, Beckman Instruments, Inc., 1939-1974
Series 5, Cary Instruments, 1937-1992
Series 6, Consulting work, 1908-(1939-1992)
Series 7, Professional activities, 1949-1996
Biographical/Historical note:
The career of Roland C. Hawes, born Oct. 4, 1908, Riverside, California, began in chemical analysis and led him into the scientific apparatus and instruments industry, where he worked in the field of spectrophotometry. B.S., chemistry, California Institute of Technology, 1930. He died in 1999.
Related Archival Materials:
Materials at Other Organizations
Office Of History, National Institutes of Health
Images of Applied Physics Corp. Vibrating Reed Electrometer, Model 31 (89.0001.206); Applied Physics Corp. Cary Vibrating Reed Electrometer, Model 31-V (89.0001.208); and Applied Physics Corp. Cary Recording UV-Vis Spectrophotometer, Model 14 (90.0010.001).
California Institute of Technology Archives
Arnold Orville Beckman: oral history, 1978
Papers of Arnold O. Beckman, 1919-1989
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Roland C. Hawes on September 9, 1997.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
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.
4.56 Cubic feet (consisting of 10 boxes, 1 folder, 1 oversize folder, 1 map case folder.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Ephemera
Printed ephemera
Sales letters
Business cards
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Sales catalogs
Sales records
Manufacturers' catalogs
Publications
Receipts
Commercial catalogs
Surveying instruments
Trade cards
Catalogs
Manuals
Invoices
Business ephemera
Advertisements
Mail order catalogs
Advertising cards
Advertising
Advertising mail
Business records
Print advertising
Business letters
Correspondence
Letterheads
Periodicals
Advertising fliers
Catalogues
Printed material
Date:
circa 1800-1965
bulk 1830-1930
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Instruments 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:
The Instrument category covers devices and tools used in arts and sciences, including but not limited to architecture, biology, medicine, geography, physics, chemistry and related laboratory investigation, navigation, in industry with machinery, astronomy, and a variety of optics including reading glasses. An emphasis on engineering and survey work is evident in the volume of Drawing and Surveying catalogues present.
Materials include a small sampling of business records, particular invoices and receipts, with also some advertisement, correspondence, financials, import/export documents. The bulk of material is comprised of product catalogues, many with detailed descriptions, specifications, and illustrations, plus pricing information. A number of catalogues are in German. A small portion of the catalogues are not instruments per se, but are accompaniments used with instruments. For example, specimen slides for microscopes. A few company publications are present as well. Several guides on the use of or history of some apparatus are present, as are a few stand-alone illustrations, though most catalogues are heavily illustrated.
No extensive runs or complete records exist for any single company, brand, and no particular depth is present for any singular subtopic though some publications may provide general and historical overviews of a person, company, or facet of industry. Separate folders were used for a few companies which have a small bulk of material. Companies of note: Bausch & Lomb, Sperry Corporation and Wheelco Instrument Company.
With the industries and trades represented in this category, there is overlap with Hardware, Tools, and Mensuration.
Arrangement:
Instruments is arranged in two subseries. Researchers are advised to look both under the company name and under the category of catalogue of products it produces.
Business Records and Marketing Material
Genre
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Instruments 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.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Instruments, 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).
The collection documents Elliott's work in developing the SpectraSpan Spectrometer and related technologies including the use of echelle gratings and argon plasmas with the spectrometer. It also documents his companies, SpectraMetrics, and Elliott Laboratories. The collection contains correspondence; photographs, including lantern slides; business and financial records; writings; laboratory notes; internal company reports; user's manuals; patents and patent-related papers; and publications and printed materials.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical / Historical:
William G. Elliott was an engineer who, in 1966, founded SpectraMetrics, which developed and marketed the SpectraSpan echelle spectrometer. He later sold SpectraMetrics, and founded Elliott Laboratories in 1972.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Mark Elliott.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
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.
master regulator - complete automatic combustion control system for "package" boilers ; "RIMCOR" ; combustion controls ; smoke density indicators and alarms ; smoke alarms and fire detectors ;
Includes:
Trade catalog
Black and white images
Physical description:
6 pieces; 1 box
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Glen Cove, New York, United States
Date:
1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Locks and safes (including alarm and security systems) Search this
electronic weighing and force measurement systems for industry ; load cells for industrial and aerospace electrical engineering applications ; readout and control instrumentation ; inventory control systems ;
Includes:
Trade catalog
Black and white images
Physical description:
4 pieces; 1 box
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Wallingford, Connecticut, United States
Date:
1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Engineering consultants and contractors Search this
CEC; Rochester Div. ; Consolidated Engineering Co. ; Search this
Notes content:
High vacuum equipment for laboratory and industrial applications ; developed the first commercial mass spectrometer ; Consolidated Electrodynamics subsequently created its own computer company, Electro-Data, which later became the basis of Burroughs Corporation's entry into digital computers.
Includes:
Trade catalog
Black and white images
Physical description:
1 piece; 1 box
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Rochester, New York, United States
Date:
1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Industrial equipment or mechanical machinery (including supplies and components) Search this
Laboratories and laboratory supplies and equipment Search this
Pneumatic cylinders, valves, programmers, and quick connects ; electronic R.F. and I.F. coils, R.F. and I.F. assemblies, and production test instruments. minimatic modular components ; valves ; cylinders ; fittings ; miniature fluid power and control devices ; sensing and interface valves and components .
Includes:
Trade catalog
Black and white images
Physical description:
42 pieces; 1 box
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Date:
1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Industrial equipment or mechanical machinery (including supplies and components) Search this
stroboscopic apparatuses (instruments used to observe moving objects by making them appear stationary, especially with pulsed illumination or mechanical devices that intermittently interrupt observation) ; for medical, highspeed photography and cinematography, and industry ; 1937
Includes:
Photographs
Black and white images
Physical description:
6 pieces; 1 box
Language:
French
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Paris, France
Date:
1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Medical and surgical instruments and supplies Search this
Industrial equipment or mechanical machinery (including supplies and components) Search this
apparatus for technical instruction, mechanics and mechanism, building and machine construction, drawing appliances, and models for ships, bridges, mining machinery ; "catalogue of Educational Apparatus" ; 1886 ;
Includes:
Trade catalog and price lists
Black and white images
Physical description:
1 piece; 1 box
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
London, United Kingdom
Date:
1800s
Topic (Romaine term):
Artists; drafting; crafts materials and supplies Search this
Boats and ships (including marine hardware and supplies) Search this
