History in Your Hand: Fifty Years of the Manuscript Society

by John M. Taylor

Overview

This book chronicles the evolution of the Manuscript Society, a fifty-year-old organization of collectors and archivists, in the context of autograph collecting in general. The author presents a comprehensive account of the growing problems posed by forgers and discusses the notorious Salt Lake City bomber, undoubtedly one of the most skillful forgers of this century. From the dilemma faced by archivists when papers are threatened with destruction to some of the Society's most memorable meetings, this work tells a story that will interest generations to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275959180
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/23/1997
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	1360L (what's this?)

About the Author

JOHN M. TAYLOR is a past president of the Manuscript Society (1980-1982). From 1952 to 1987 he was employed by the U.S. Government, including four foreign postings with the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency. The author of seven books of biography and history, he is a frequent contributor to historical magazines and has written for the Wall Street Jourbanal and the Washington Post. His most recent book, Confederate Raider: Raphael Semmes of the Alabama, was a 1995 selection of the History Book Club.

Table of Contents

Foreword by John D. Haskell
A Meeting in Chicago
Ford's Theatre and Other Capers
"History in Your Hand"
David and Goliath: The Lewis and Clark Case
Growing Pains
Expanding Horizons
The Winds of Change
"A Serengeti Watering Hole"
The Harding Papers
Triumph and Disaster
The Book
Some Challenges of the 1970s
A New Constitution
The Life Member
New Fields
The Society in the 1990s
Word Shadows of the Great
Appendix A: Presidents of the Manuscript Society
Appendix B: Manuscript Society Policy on Replevin
Appendix C: What Shall I Do With My Collection?
Recommended Reading
Index

Editorial Reviews

A former president of the Society, historian and biographer Taylor recounts the founding of the National Society of Autograph Collectors in 1948 and its history through the 1953 name change to the Manuscript Society to the present. Along the way he describes price escalation, the Autopen, acts of altruism by Society members, sinister forgeries, court cases in which the Society defended autograph owners from authorities wanting to recover lost manuscripts, and other incidents. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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