Hamill & Barker, Inc. Collection

The Hamill & Barker, Inc. Archive contains the working files and correspondence for the firm from 1928 until 2001, beginning with the partnership of Frances Hamill (1904-1987) and Margery Barker (1901-1980). Terence "Terry" A. Tanner (1948-2003) joined the staff in 1975, continued with the firm after Margery Barker's death in 1980, and became sole proprietor of the firm in 1987. Except for a few files, the division of the correspondence reflects these transitions in the firm. Files include Hamill & Barker, Inc. catalogs, correspondence and information on the acquisition and sale of books and collections to libraries and individuals. Correspondence, minutes, and stolen books lists from the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA), 1977-1998, can also be found.

Personal files with photographs, essays, and correspondence related to Frances Hamill and Mergery Barker or their family members are contained in the first series. The typescript for Katherine Hamill's novel, Swamp Shadow (New York: Knopf, 1936), is in box 2.

The second series, Hamill & Barker, Inc. Correspondence, 1926-2001, consists of alphabetical runs of company correspondence (original order has been maintained for these sub-series). This series includes correspondence with authors from whom Hamill & Barker acquired archives, such as David and Richard Garnett, Leonard Woolf, Gerald Brenan, Frances Partiridge, Vita Sackville-West, and James Strachey.

The third series, Barker vs. Bryn Mawr Records, 1914, 1919-1935, consists of files related to the lawsuit, Margery Barker vs. The Trustees of Bryn Mawr College and M. Carey Thomas, President, 1921.

The final series, Hamill & Barker, Inc. Records, 1921, 1929-1998, consists of the firm's records including of purchases and sales, lists of stolen books from the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA), catalogs, and miscellaneous files such as inventory cards of books, purchasing prospects, and some correspondence files; these records were not received until after the death of Terry Tanner in 2003.