We specialize in Americana, especially manuscript materials. We offer manuscript letters and archives, diaries, journals, personal and business correspondence from the 17th century through the 20th.

  • The long-lost visual archive of Charles Henry Caruthers (1847-1920), consisting of 194 of his highly detailed pen and ink and watercolor drawings of locomotives of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company drawn between 1896 and 1919; plus 4 pen and ink drawings (on versos of his colored drawings). The archive also includes 35 cyanotypes of Caruthers’ locomotive drawings; 4 photograph albums, containing 477 photographs in all, plus 7 large format photographs – including the very rare large format production: Pennsylvania Railroad Co. Motive Power Department. May 1st, 1868. A Collection of Photographs of Locomotives, Typical of Each Class On the Pennsylvania Railroad at this Date, Also, Photographs of the Standard Wheels, Axles, Brake Hangers and Shoes, Brass Cocks, etc, etc., (with 67 albumen photographs), as well as several related ephemeral items, including two photographically illustrated trade catalogs issued by the Baldwin Locomotive Company, dated 1871 and 1881. The rediscovery of this long lost archive represents a significant new and untapped resource for scholars and researchers of 19th and early 20th century transportation history.
    Charles Henry Caruthers developed a fascination with the engines of the Pennsylvania Railroad at an early age. This fascination manifested itself in a lifelong effort to document the locomotives of this major railroad company. Beginning as a child, he produced a visual record of these engines—in their full color—which he continued until at least 1919, the year before his death. This catalog of Caruthers’ work is the first time that the complete collection of Caruthers’ mature drawings have been reproduced in color. As he grew older his technical skills progressed and advanced as he continued his lifelong work. Caruthers can be considered an “Audubon” of the early railroad age. Audubon sought to create a visual record of American natural history as it was in the 19th century, his observations and notes made while in the field were also invaluable. Audubon’s goal was to see his work published. Caruthers, like Audubon, devoted years of his life to the pursuit of his goal—Caruthers sought to record the locomotives of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In his later works not only are the locomotives depicted in minute detail but also in their full color. Caruthers also provides exhaustive technical specifications and historical information, in his calligraphic script below… more >