The Klingenstein Library of the New-York Historical Society holds among its many resources a substantial collection of manuscript materials documenting American slavery and the slave trade in the Atlantic world. The 14 collections on this website are among the most important of these manuscript collections. They consist of diaries, account books, letter books, ships’ logs, indentures, bills of sale, personal papers and records of institutions. Some of the highlights of these collections include the records of the New York Manumission Society and the African Free School, the diaries and correspondence of English abolitionists Granville Sharp and John Clarkson, the papers of the Boston anti-slavery activist Lysander Spooner, the records of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, the draft of Charles Sumner’s famous speech The Anti-Slavery Enterprise and an account book kept by the slave trading firm Bolton, Dickens & Co.

Click here to view the full collection.

Books and other published materials constitute the bulk of the Klingenstein Library’s collection. These include current monographs and supporting  sources on the history of New York and the United States, as well as an array of religious tracts, city directories, atlases, rare Native American language dictionaries, contentious pamphlets of the American Revolution, pro- and anti-slavery literature, Civil War regimental histories, institutional annual reports, and travel and entertainment guides. Search for these through the Klingenstein Library's online catalog.