Special Collections Department

Archive
of
M.J. Ivers and Company

1880 - 1915

(bulk dates 1898 - 1905)

Manuscript Collection Number: 478
Accessioned: Purchase, 1990
Extent: 31 items (.1 linear ft.)
Content: Correspondence, invoices, receipts, and order lists.
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: August 2003 by Theresa Hessey

Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229

Table of Contents

• Historical Note
• Contents List

Historical Note

The New York based publishing firm of M.J. Ivers and Company was best known for its production of cheap books including Beadle’s Dime Dialogues, Dime Speakers, Dime Hand Books, Boy’s Library, and Deadwood Dick Library. Following the dissolution of Beadle and Adams in 1898, James Sullivan, the owner of M.J. Ivers and Company, purchased the collections of Beadle Dime and Half Dime Novels. M.J. Ivers and Company continued to publish these titles as monthlies under the name of Beadle and Adams until 1905. Ivers printed sixty four numbers of Beadle’s Boy’s Library and sixty four of Edward Wheeler’s novels in addition to one hundred other works. The company continued to operate throughout the early part of the twentieth century. Eventually, the plates and stock of M.J. Ivers and Company were bought by the Arthur Westbrook Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, who continued to publish both the Deadwood Dick and Frontier Libraries until 1937. Included in this collection are business receipts, correspondence, and publication lists. This archive represents only a small portion of material generated by M.J. Ivers and Company.

Sources:

Johannsen, Albert. The House of Beadle and Adams and its Dime and Nickel Novels. Retreived August 18, 2003 from The Beadle and Adams Dime Novel Digitization Project. (DeKalb, Ill.: Norther Illinois Univeristy Libraries) at http://www.niulib.niu.edu/badndp/

Related Collections:

Ms 354 Beadle and Adams Archive

Contents List

Box -- Folder -- Contents

F1   1880-1898
     Contains a receipt for dime novel plates from Hurst and
     Company, statement of credit from M.J. Ivers and Company,
     correspondence from other publishers including George
     Munro’s Sons, publication lists, and receipts from Beadle
     and Adams for the purchase of Dime and Half Dime novels.

F2   1900-1915, [n.d]
     Includes receipts, correspondence, a commission account from
     McLeod and Allen, receipt from Blauvelt-Wiley Paper
     Manufacturing Company, and correspondence from the Arthur
     Westbrook Company regarding the sale of American Series.
     Also includes undated correspondence and order lists for the
     American Series.
     

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