George Watson Cole papers HIA 30.1
Finding aid prepared by Courtney A. Kilian.
The Huntington Library
2014
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Note
Finding aid last updated on March 22, 2024, by Renee Tabizon.
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: George Watson Cole papers
Identifier/Call Number: HIA 30.1
Physical Description:
.83 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1913-1929, 1991, 1999
Abstract: The collection is comprised primarily
of Mr. Cole's notes on a variety of tasks performed as the librarian of the Huntington
Library. Mr. Cole's notes include lists of the library's holdings and provide an
understanding of the way the Huntington pursued acquisitions in the early years of the
institution.
Language of Material: The records are in
English.
Access
Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader
Services Department. For more information, please go to the following
web site .
Publication Rights
In order to quote from, publish, or reproduce any of the manuscripts or visual materials,
researchers must obtain formal permission from the office of the Library Director. In most
instances, permission is given by the Huntington as owner of the physical property rights
only, and researchers must also obtain permission from the holder of the literary rights. In
some instances, the Huntington owns the literary rights, as well as the physical property
rights. Researchers may contact the appropriate curator for further information.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of Item], George Watson Cole Papers, Huntington Institutional Archives, The
Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Biography
George Watson Cole (1850-1939) was the first librarian of the Huntington Library, from 1915
until his retirement in 1924. In 1915, the Henry E. Huntington Library was formally
established in New York City, and in 1920 the collection was moved to its current location
in San Marino, California. George Watson Cole was asked to help in the library's
organization and staffing, and to become its first librarian and bibliographer, coming out
of retirement to take the position at the age of 65. Before he retired Mr. Cole wrote a
lengthy report in which he described the Library collections as they had been in 1915, the
acquisitions made between 1915 and 1924, and the holdings as they were in 1924. Mr. Cole is
well known for his writings on bibliography and libraries, and for his expertise in rare
books and manuscripts.
Scope and Content
These are likely Mr. Cole's personal notes about the Huntington collections, comprised of
lists of a variety of holdings of the library, and acquisitions made by the Huntington
between 1915 and 1924. It includes Mr. Cole's notes regarding variations within different
printings of various texts (for example, differences in two copies of Bacon's "Wisdom of the
Ancients" both from the same year, with different typeset), as well as listings of famous
first editions, incunabula, Shakespeare quartos, and historical papers in the Huntington
collection; lists of holdings in other libraries; lists of items sent to galleries,
exhibits, or for exchange or sale; physical descriptions and comparisons of texts;
biographical histories of certain authors; and lists of things not in the Huntington's
collection. Additionally, it also includes some material on bibliography, and a cataloging
guide from 1920 of HEHL cataloging practice. Most of the material is undated.
Arrangement
Arrangement is alphabetical by document title.
General
Former call number: HIA 30.1.1-30.1.2.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery.
Rare books.
San Marino (Calif.)
Files (Document Groupings)
Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery
George Watson Cole papers, A-L,
1916-1927,
undated
Box 1, Folder 2
Bacon essays bibliography,
[undated]
Scope and Contents
Includes bibliographic notes regarding
Wisdom of Ancients.
Box 1, Folder 3
Barnfield, Encomion of Lady Pecunia
[undated]
Box 1, Folder 4
Book of St. Albans,
1916
Scope and Contents
Includes article noting female author, Dame Juliana Berners (b. 1388?) and the
bibliography of "Boke of St. Albans."
Box 1, Folder 5
"Bibles after 1640 in the Huntington Library,"
[undated]
Box 1, Folder 6
Bibles and prayer books in the Huntington Library,
[undated]
Box 1, Folder 7
Bibliographies in the New York Public Library bulletin,
[undated]
Box 1, Folder 8, 9
Bibliographies of English Literature
[undated]
Box 1, Folder 10
Bridgewater inventory list,
1918
Box 1, Folder 11
Bridgewater House Library,
1917
Box 1, Folder 12
"Index to Cataloguing Practice,"
1920
Box 1, Folder 13
"Extracts from the Report on the Huntington Library,"
1917
Box 1, Folder 14
B.F. Stevens Brown correspondence,
1921
Scope and Contents
Correspondence from bookseller regarding Vicente Salva y Perez collection of Spanish
and Portuguese books indicating provenance.
Box 1, Folder 15
"Church Catalogue of Americana,"
1916
Box 1, Folder 16
Collier, John Payne
[undated]
Box 1, Folder 17
Daniel, Samuel,
[undated]
Box 1, Folder 18
"Collection of De Bry's Great and Small Voyages,"
1916
Box 1, Folder 19
Dickens, Charles (arrangement),
1916
Box 1, Folder 20
The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman (copy variation notes),
[undated]
Box 1, Folder 21
Drayton, Michael
[undated]
Box 1, Folder 22
"Early English Writers in the Henry E. Huntington Library,"
1920
Box 1, Folder 23
Erasmus, Desiderius,
1921
Box 1, Folder 24
"Exchange made for Britwell Library,"
[undated]
Box 1, Folder 25
"First Editions of Famous Books in the Huntington Library,"
[undated]
Box 1, Folder 26
"Works in the Halsey Library,"
[undated]
Box 1, Folder 27
Old book collector's miscellany (Hindley references),
1927
Box 1, Folder 28
Incunabula (English Collections),
1916
Box 1, Folder 29
"List of Incunabula in the Library of Henry E. Huntington,"
1918
Box 1, Folder 30
Las Casas, Bartholome (editions in the Huntington Library),
1918
Box 1, Folder 31
Cole, George Watson (biographical data)
1936-1937
George Watson Cole papers, M-Z,
1916-1929, 1991,
1999
Box 2, Folder 1
Maxwell, John, "Presbytery Displayed" pamphlet (1663),
[undated]
Box 2, Folder 3
"Milton's Paradise Lost (variations in first edition),"
[undated]
Box 2, Folder 4
The Mirror for Magistrates,
[undated]
Box 2, Folder 5
"New York Laws 1693-1800,"
[undated]
Box 2, Folder 6
"Items on Newberry Library list in the Huntington Library,"
[undated]
Box 2, Folder 7
"Short list of Masques and Plays,"
1927
Box 2, Folder 8
Quaritch Catalogues Index,
[undated]
Box 2, Folder 9
Roxburghe Club list of publications,
1921
Box 2, Folder 10, 11
"Shakespeare (1562-1709), list of separate editions,"
1920
Box 2, Folder 12
Collations, Shakespeare folios,
[undated]
Box 2, Folder 13
Shakespeare Exhibition, New York Public Library loan,
1916
Box 2, Folder 14
"Collation of the Quarto edition of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar,"
1913
Scope and Contents
Collation by Henrietta C. Bartlett (The Library of London).
Box 2, Folder 15
Smith, Capt. John, "General Historie of Virgina" bibliography,
[undated]
Box 2, Folder 16
Southwell, Saint Peters Complaint,
1921
Box 2, Folder 17
Typographical or Textual Criticism
[undated]
Box 2, Folder 18
"Unique and Excessively Rare Books from the 1640 Catalogue,"
1927
Box 2, Folder 19
"From Mr. Cole's red backed binder"
[undated]
Scope and Contents
Item is a 2 page list of 36 authors and titles by those authors.
Box 2, Folder 20
Cole, George Watson. Collection description from American Antiquarian
Society
1991, 1999
Box 2, Folder 21
"The Ideally Perfect Library," by George Watson Cole,
1929
Scope and Contents
Sent by Cole to Mr. Malcolm Day Rudd, with compliments. Item is in fragile condition.
Reprint.
Box 2, Folder 22
"The Cataloguing of Rare Books in the Henry E. Huntington Library," by George
Watson Cole
1923
Scope and Contents
Sent by Cole to Mr. Henry Farr de Puy, with compliments. Reprint from 1922.
Box 2, Folder 23
"Check-List or Brief Catalogue of the Library of Henry E. Huntington (English
Literature to 1640),"
1919
