Series VI: Subscription Records, 1794 - 1879

Series

Identifier: MS002 Series 6

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The subscription series consists of bound volumes of records documenting the subscribers of the company while doubling as ledgers for many of the financial transactions of the pre-Lyceum period (1794-1839), with gaps between volumes. Apart from the minutes, the volumes contain the only information on the subscribers of the late 1790s, for which there is a gap in the circulation records.

There are also additional financial records from 1826-1839 and a list of subscribers, paid and not, from 1854. These appear in the same volume (see historical note), along with the circulation records for 1846-1848 in between.

The stubs of printed subscription certificates from 1874-1879 are also included in this series. Each contains an identifying number, the name of a subscriber, and a dollar amount, accompanied in some cases by dates or other notations. A few of the completed patron slips are also in this volume, including dates and the signature of the treasurer.

Dates

1794 - 1879

Historical Note

The initial combination of financial and subscription records likely reflected the company’s initial dependence on subscription fees, in contrast to the later subscription library in the city that relied more on donors. This recordkeeping system appears to have been a casualty of the merger with the Lyceum, which became official in early 1840.

As the physical volume in use at that time was still mostly blank, it was repeatedly repurposed, first for additional circulation records (until these too lapsed) and later for a “list of Stockholders and the amount due from each for the year commencing the 13th February 1854,” which likely relates to the revitalization of the company after its agreement with the Young Men’s group. The agreement required the men to find 100 subscribers, and the list was likely prepared for the annual meeting originally scheduled for 20 February (a week after the date on the list), at which it was decided to void the shares of individuals who had not paid.

Extent

From the Collection: 8.10 Cubic Feet (13 boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 1 record carton)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The accounting records in the subscription books shifted back and forth between two systems, one listing transactions chronologically and the other listing them under the names of individuals.

With the exception of the 1826-1854 book, all entries are characterized by double-entry bookkeeping, with the left side page documenting money going out ("to"), and the right hand page documenting money coming in ("by"), this can be confusing as bills for subscriptions seem at times to have been listed in the outgoing section.

Most of the books begin with indexes of numbered names in no clear order. The same numbers appear in columns toward the right of the accounts pages, just before the amounts, apparently signifying people and groups with which the transactions were undertaken. These numbers should not be confused with the columns on the left indicating the calendar day. They were dropped around 1826.

Payments under the names of individuals appear in the first part of the 1794-1799 volume, the latter parts of the 1799-1809 and 1809-1819 volumes, and throughout the bulk of the two volumes covering 1820-1828.