Guide to the Stewart Kidd Scrapbooks and Photo Albums
Title:
Stewart Kidd Scrapbooks and Photo Albums
RLIN No.:
NYGG07-A14
Dates:
1910-1969
Bulk Dates:
1910-1930
Extent:
one scrapbook, one photo album
Abstract:
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings, letters, etc. of the bookselling business of Stewart Kidd and its principal manager, John G. Kidd. Also, photo album of ca. 110 black & white photographs showing book displays at the Stewart Kidd/Robert Clarke bookstore, the store's interior, etc.
Access Restrictions:
Collection is open for research use. Copyright restrictions may apply; please contact repository for requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce the materials.
Preferred Citation:
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Steward Kidd Scrapbooks and Photo Albums, 1910-1930, The Grolier Club of New York.
About the Finding Aid:
This finding aid was prepared by Sophia Dahab in Microsoft Word at the Grolier Club, November 2015.
Provenance:
unknown.
Access Points:
Stewart, W. K. (William Kerfoot), 1875-
Kidd, John G., d. 1949
Stewart Kidd (Firm : Cincinnati, Ohio)
Robert Clarke Company (Firm : Cincinnati, Ohio)
Antiquarian booksellers
Booksellers and bookselling
Bookstores
Scrapbooks
Photograph albums
Biographical/Historical Note:
Stewart Kidd (a.k.a. Stewart-Kidd), a bookselling, engraving and stationery business in Cincinnati, was formed January 1, 1910 by the partnership of W. K. Stewart and John G. Kidd. In 1909, Stewart and Kidd purchased the Robert Clarke Company, a well-established Cincinnati bookseller in business since the 1850s, in a receiver's sale. Stewart, originally from Louisville, Kentucky, came from a great publishing/bookselling family. His grandfather, also William Stewart, founded the business of Bobbs-Merrill of Indianapolis. Stewart continued in the bookselling business, entering the sales department of Bobbs-Merrill in 1905 and buying the entire retail department in 1909.
With this stock, consisting of books and stationery, he established the W. K. Stewart Company. Kidd, originally from Frankfort, Indiana, moved to Cincinnati in the early 1900s to work for Doubleday, Page, and established his reputation as a rare book dealer. He journeyed frequently to England and Scotland in search of antiquarian books, in particular editions of Samuel Johnson and his contemporaries. In 1933 Kidd bought out Stewart, and the firm name was changed to John G. Kidd & Son, Inc. In 1949, a month after he had opened a new bookstore on Vine Street, Kidd perished in a fire aboard the steamer Noronic.
Scope and Content Note:
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings, letters, etc. of the bookselling business of Stewart Kidd and its principal manager, John G. Kidd. Also, photo album of ca. 110 black & white photographs showing book displays at the Stewart Kidd/Robert Clarke bookstore, the store's interior, etc
Related Materials Note:
Related materials may be found in the following collections in this repository:
[Bookseller catalogs of Stewart Kidd]
Arrangement Note:
All items remain in their original order. Loose photos from album have been removed and rehoused.
Container List:
|
Box
|
Item
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
1
|
1
|
Scrapbook (binding broken)
|
1924-1930
|
|
1
|
2
|
Loose items removed from scrapbook
|
1924-1930
|
|
1
|
3
|
Photo Album
|
1910-1915
|
|
1
|
4
|
Loose photos removed from photo album
|
1910-1930?
|
|
1
|
5
|
Blackwell’s catalogues and envelope
|
1968-1969
|