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The collection contains correspondence with the authors, including contracts signed with authors as well as negotiations with the authors over various aspects of publishing their works; financial records documenting many aspects of the operation of Harper & Brothers, including royalties paid to authors, records of stock offerings and company reorganizations, and general ledgers which contain daily notes on all aspects of the operation of the business; book catalogues and trade lists; research materials collected by Eugene Exman for his history of Harper & Brothers; visual materials, from drawings and photographs of Harper's authors to colophon designs and an oil painting of the original Harper's building.

Files dealing with publishers, the editing of manuscripts, serial rights, copyright, translation rights, financial accounts, and the like. Among the correspondents are A.P. Graves, Thomas Hardy, Frederick T. Jane, W.E. Norris, Alfred Ollivant, John Pendleton, William H. Rideing, Hall Caine, Prince Peter Kropotkin, Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes, Douglas Sladden, and Mary Augusta Ward (Mrs. Humphry Ward).

Mostly testimonial letters from satisfied clients of A.P. Watt, praising his services. Many of the letters were published in promotional brochures. Two of these books, COLLECTION OF LETTERS ADDRESSED TO A.P. WATT BY VARIOUS WRITERS (London, 1893) & LETTERS ADDRESSED TO A.P. WATT (London, 1894), are included in the collection. There were other editions published in 1889, 1898, 1899, 1924, 1929, etc.