A new volume published by the American Geographical Society and edited by John K. Wright will be of special interest to New England.

From Smith College word comes, to the Business Historical Society, of a new series of studies to be made in the field of business and economic history. Concerning this project the director, Dr. Esther Lowenthal, professor of economics at Smith College, notes in The Smith Alumnae for November, 1932:

The following paper was prepared by Mr. Tinsley, Vice-President and General Manager of the Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, to be delivered at the annual meeting scheduled for December 8, 1932. With his consent it is printed here.

Summaries of the various annual reports prepared for the meeting scheduled for December 8, 1932, which was unavoidably postponed, are as follows:

There have come to Baker Library, from two different sources, six account books of modest proportion which have, packed within their pages, the complete record of the investments of one of Boston's outstanding citizens—outstanding both for his ability and his public spirit. His well-ordered accounts should constitute a mine of information for research students. Even the most hasty review of the records brings to light information of great interest.

The Business Historical Society calls to the attention of its members a recent publication which should be of greatest value and interest. This is the Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, which has been published jointly by the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the American Geographical Society of New York.

A nation acquiring new territory is not in every sense of the word in an advantageous position. There are always administrative problems which require information outside the experience of that nation. This was surely the case at the time of the acquisition of Louisiana. The territory had been handed back and forth between the French and Spanish since 1719—the French holding the territory up to 1766 when the Spanish came into power. They governed the territory until 1801 when Napoleon succeeded in gaining control for France once more. But Napoleon found it impossible, because of war on all sides at home, to realize the dream of power in the New World. In 1803 Louisiana was purchased by the United States from France.

There is occasionally preserved, in a mere handful of papers, a story surprisingly complete. This is true of one small group of manuscripts found in the Baldwin collection — a collection frequently mentioned in previous numbers of the Bulletin. The papers here referred to concern the organization of a business enterprise undertaken by Cyrus Baldwin and that astounding old adventurer, Nathaniel Appleton.

Up to the close of the Napoleonic Wars, sheep raising, in the United States, was of slight importance. Because of the small population, the demand for mutton was easily supplied. Most of the woolen goods used was imported from England. What little was manufactured in this country was made of wool imported from Spain.

The Erie Canal has always stood as one of the great pioneer works in engineering in America, and for this reason any new material on the history of the project cannot but be of interest. The earliest thoughts concerning the development of an inland waterway which would connect the vast territory between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi with the more populous eastern seaboard run far back into history.

Among the more recent volumes received by the Business Historical Society is The Glasgow University Press 1638–1931 by James Maclehose. The author, himself a member of the family that now runs the press, enters into his task with uncommon enthusiasm.

Along with the articles relative to the Erie Canal and the Boston and Albany Railroad, it seems appropriate to offer some general estimate of canal and railroad material available in the manuscript collection at Baker Library. The two most important groups in this field are the Baldwin papers, the gift of Mr. James R. Baldwin, and the Stabler papers, deposited with Baker Library by the Maryland Historical Society.