Selection Criteria
The material included in China, America and the Pacific has been selected in close collaboration with academic subject experts, collections specialists at participating libraries and archives, and under the guidance of the Editorial Board.
This resource includes extensive manuscript material from several contributing archives and includes materials from the following collections:
- Bancker Papers
- Elisha Kent Kane Papers
- Samuel Francis Du Pont Collection
- Forbes Collection
Selections of other material include rare books, diaries, memoirs, maps, illustrations, accounts and logbooks cover an extensive topic selection inclusive of voyages, trade and commodities, the whaling industry, international relations and colonial governance.
American Philosophical Society
Included are manuscript materials from the Bancker Papers and the Elisha Kent Kane Papers.
Boston Athenaeum
A collection of manuscripts and rare printed books, including private papers and correspondence, that reveals fascinating insights into the trading relationships and cultural exchanges that emerged as part of the China trade.
California Historical Society Collection at Stanford
Included are manuscripts and rare books including memoirs, narratives of voyages, prices current and diaries that document aspects of the China trade as well as the fascinating development of the fur trade.
Hagley Museum and Library
The resource features manuscripts from the impressive Samuel Francis Du Pont Collection. Du Pont played a key diplomatic role in opening Japan to American trade and investment. Visual and rare printed materials relating to the America-China trade from the Imprints and Pictorial Collections complement the manuscript selection.
Hawaiian Historical Society
Manuscript items and rare printed materials from the Hawaiian Historical Society shed light on the role Hawaii played in the Old China Trade and later the Pacific whaling industry. The Sandwich Islands were a crucial part of the Old China Trade, with ships stopping at port there en route to Canton. It later became the centre of the Pacific Whaling Industry. The selection includes account books, newspapers, broadsides, maps, visual material, and rare books documenting the Hawaiian experience.
Massachusetts Historical Society
The resource includes a wide range of manuscript material including correspondence, memoranda, diaries, logbooks, notebooks, accounts and shipping papers. Much of this material comes from the renowned Forbes collection. The Forbes family were key participants in the China trade and the documents throw light on the fascinating commercial activities in which it was engaged. Other highlights from the collection include the Samuel Shaw (1754-1794) papers (Samuel Shaw sailed as supercargo in 1784 aboard the ship Empress of China, the first American-flagged ship at Canton); the log of the Columbia, the first ship to circumnavigate the globe; a letter book of Houqua, a Canton trader; and trade letters from King Tamoree and Queen Charlotte Tapoolee of Kauai (Hawaii).
Nantucket Historical Association
The collection includes manuscripts, rare books and visual material, in particular account and waste books, correspondence and ships’ logs providing valuable records of commodities and trading information.
Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum
The Peabody houses some of the most important material relating to the America-China trade. We have sourced a wide range of manuscript materials including family manuscript collections and ship logbooks. The family and business papers relate to individuals or entire families engaged in trade in East Asia. Other manuscript content includes diaries, invoice books and ephemera, including Clipper ship cards.
University of Alberta
The resource includes manuscript items associated with the fur trade in Canada. The collection helps document the beginnings of the fur trade in New France during the French Colonial Period; westward expansion by the North West Company and British merchants of Montreal, and the monopoly over Western Canada and British Columbia by the Hudson’s Bay Company.
University of British Columbia
The resource includes selections from the general manuscript and map collections, the Charles Spring Archive and the Chung Collection. The Spring Archive helps document the growth of the sealing industry in the late nineteenth century, its workings and business practices, the practice of hunting and the extent of native involvement. A significant part of the collection also focuses on the impact of the modus vivendi agreement and subsequent claims. The Chung Collection includes rare printed texts, visual material, objects and ephemera connected to the history of Chinese immigration and settlement in Canada, the history of early British Columbia and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.
University of California, San Diego
The resource includes a selection of rare books from the Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages, as well as manuscript material for the Alaska Commercial Company Records.
Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library
The selection includes a collection of Chinese Export Watercolours, selections from the Latimer Family Papers, a sea journal, a beautiful swatch book and the John Haskell Papers. The Chinese export watercolours, painted for the American market, are a particular highlight and cover a variety of subjects: studies of Macao and Canton; paintings of flora and fauna; and even an album depicting the punishment of Chinese criminals.
A note on exclusions
Where exclusions have been made, this is largely due to:
- Collections falling outside the defined remit of this resource
- Existing open-access content
- Copyright and permission considerations
- Data protection concerns
To learn more about the source archives please visit the Participating Libraries.
Selection Criteria
The material included in China, America and the Pacific has been selected in close collaboration with academic subject experts, collections specialists at participating libraries and archives, and under the guidance of the Editorial Board.
This resource includes extensive manuscript material from several contributing archives and includes materials from the following collections:
- Bancker Papers
- Elisha Kent Kane Papers
- Samuel Francis Du Pont Collection
- Forbes Collection
Selections of other material include rare books, diaries, memoirs, maps, illustrations, accounts and logbooks cover an extensive topic selection inclusive of voyages, trade and commodities, the whaling industry, international relations and colonial governance.
American Philosophical Society
Included are manuscript materials from the Bancker Papers and the Elisha Kent Kane Papers.
Boston Athenaeum
A collection of manuscripts and rare printed books, including private papers and correspondence, that reveals fascinating insights into the trading relationships and cultural exchanges that emerged as part of the China trade.
California Historical Society Collection at Stanford
Included are manuscripts and rare books including memoirs, narratives of voyages, prices current and diaries that document aspects of the China trade as well as the fascinating development of the fur trade.
Hagley Museum and Library
The resource features manuscripts from the impressive Samuel Francis Du Pont Collection. Du Pont played a key diplomatic role in opening Japan to American trade and investment. Visual and rare printed materials relating to the America-China trade from the Imprints and Pictorial Collections complement the manuscript selection.
Hawaiian Historical Society
Manuscript items and rare printed materials from the Hawaiian Historical Society shed light on the role Hawaii played in the Old China Trade and later the Pacific whaling industry. The Sandwich Islands were a crucial part of the Old China Trade, with ships stopping at port there en route to Canton. It later became the centre of the Pacific Whaling Industry. The selection includes account books, newspapers, broadsides, maps, visual material, and rare books documenting the Hawaiian experience.
Massachusetts Historical Society
The resource includes a wide range of manuscript material including correspondence, memoranda, diaries, logbooks, notebooks, accounts and shipping papers. Much of this material comes from the renowned Forbes collection. The Forbes family were key participants in the China trade and the documents throw light on the fascinating commercial activities in which it was engaged. Other highlights from the collection include the Samuel Shaw (1754-1794) papers (Samuel Shaw sailed as supercargo in 1784 aboard the ship Empress of China, the first American-flagged ship at Canton); the log of the Columbia, the first ship to circumnavigate the globe; a letter book of Houqua, a Canton trader; and trade letters from King Tamoree and Queen Charlotte Tapoolee of Kauai (Hawaii).
Nantucket Historical Association
The collection includes manuscripts, rare books and visual material, in particular account and waste books, correspondence and ships’ logs providing valuable records of commodities and trading information.
Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum
The Peabody houses some of the most important material relating to the America-China trade. We have sourced a wide range of manuscript materials including family manuscript collections and ship logbooks. The family and business papers relate to individuals or entire families engaged in trade in East Asia. Other manuscript content includes diaries, invoice books and ephemera, including Clipper ship cards.
University of Alberta
The resource includes manuscript items associated with the fur trade in Canada. The collection helps document the beginnings of the fur trade in New France during the French Colonial Period; westward expansion by the North West Company and British merchants of Montreal, and the monopoly over Western Canada and British Columbia by the Hudson’s Bay Company.
University of British Columbia
The resource includes selections from the general manuscript and map collections, the Charles Spring Archive and the Chung Collection. The Spring Archive helps document the growth of the sealing industry in the late nineteenth century, its workings and business practices, the practice of hunting and the extent of native involvement. A significant part of the collection also focuses on the impact of the modus vivendi agreement and subsequent claims. The Chung Collection includes rare printed texts, visual material, objects and ephemera connected to the history of Chinese immigration and settlement in Canada, the history of early British Columbia and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.
University of California, San Diego
The resource includes a selection of rare books from the Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages, as well as manuscript material for the Alaska Commercial Company Records.
Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library
The selection includes a collection of Chinese Export Watercolours, selections from the Latimer Family Papers, a sea journal, a beautiful swatch book and the John Haskell Papers. The Chinese export watercolours, painted for the American market, are a particular highlight and cover a variety of subjects: studies of Macao and Canton; paintings of flora and fauna; and even an album depicting the punishment of Chinese criminals.
A note on exclusions
Where exclusions have been made, this is largely due to:
- Collections falling outside the defined remit of this resource
- Existing open-access content
- Copyright and permission considerations
- Data protection concerns
To learn more about the source archives please visit the Participating Libraries.