Selected Special Collections

Harrison Elliott Collection

Paper specimens, personal papers and research material relating to the history of papermaking

Harrison G. Elliott (1879-1954), probably the most prominent producer of handmade paper of America during the early twentieth century, began his study of paper while employed by the International Paper Company. In 1925 he jointed the Japan Paper Company, a New York importing firm which distributed fine handmade papers from fifteen European and Asian Countries. As advertising and direct mail promotion manager, Elliott designed and commissioned paper specimens and continued to write numerous articles on the history of papermaking. In 1954 Elliott donated to the Library of Congress the study collection which had had formed over a forty-year period. The collection includes twentieth-century paper specimens and sample books as well as trade journals, photographs, trade correspondence, and other secondary materials relating to the history and manufacture of paper. Of special interest is a sample collection of 300 early American papers and the correspondence and memorabilia of Dard Hunter, an authority on the history of paper and a personal friend of Elliott's. The collection contains approximately forty-five hundred specimens and fifty-eight hundred secondary sources.