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  2. Macbeth Gallery records, 1947-1948, 1838-1968, bulk 1892-1953
  3. Series 2: Financial and Shipping Records , 1892-1956

Macbeth Gallery records, 1947-1948, 1838-1968, bulk 1892-1953

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Select containers from the following list if you want to request them for reading room use or reproduction

Series 2: Financial and Shipping Records , 1892-1956
11.8 Linear feet
Boxes 96-110

This series provides a detailed record of the gallery's financial transactions through a variety of ledgers and account books. Although they lack systematic indexing and are somewhat awkward to use, these records provide an intriguing insight into art buying and collecting tendencies throughout the first half of the twentieth century. They also record the effect of fluctuations in the economy including, of course, the devastating Depression of the 1930s. Records in this series can be used more effectively in conjunction with the card files in Series 3: Inventory Records.
A large account book found here contains records dating from ca. 1918 to the 1930s with entries arranged alphabetically by the name of the person, corporate body or function (such as "Accrued Salaries") to which each account applies. The book lists the dates and descriptions of transactions along with debits, credits and balances on accounts. Each alphabetical letter group is preceded by an index of accounts that fall in that section of the alphabet.
Information regarding commissions and commission credits due to artists, businesses or individuals is recorded in three sets of volumes: Artist Credit Books; Purchase Books and Commission Credits; and Artist Commissions, Commission Credits and Purchases. Artist Commissions, Commission Credits and Purchases combine information that was previously contained in the other two types of ledgers. Details of purchases and commissions are arranged chronologically. There are also two unidentified volumes filed here as Artist Registers which appear to record information related to framing dating from ca. 1924 to 1954. The registers are arranged chronologically and then list artists as well as titles and dimensions of artwork and dates received.
Bills and statements consist of copies of outgoing bills and statements from the gallery and are arranged chronologically by year and alphabetically within those years
Cash Books provide a chronological list of cash transactions and Charge Books, also known as "Order Books" and "Sales Books," contain lists of charges for merchandise and order registers and are arranged chronologically. Miscellaneous incoming bills are arranged chronologically by year and alphabetically by client within each year. Many of the bills were previously folded together with brown paper labels which have been transferred to the folders preceding the records to which they apply.
One item of particular note is a small untitled notebook summarizing annual sales figures from 1892 to 1935. The notebook clearly shows the ongoing economic collapse of the 1930s with annual sales plummeting from $487,283.62 in 1929 to $92,659.02 in 1933.
The series also contains records of conisgnments from 1933 to 1951 and shipping records from the 1930s to the 1950s.
In general, financial records are arranged chronologically and then alphabetically by client.
The bulk of this series has been digitized. Items not digitized include some routine miscellaneous incoming bills not related to sales of artwork, including bills for utilities, insurance, framing, photo duplication, and advertising. Some folders have been identified for further conservation treatment and have not been digitized.
Description Container Select
Account Book, A-D, 1918-1940s
96
1
Account Book, E-G, 1918-1940s
96
2
Account Book, H-M, 1918-1940s
96
3
Account Book, Mc-R, 1918-1940s
96
4
Account Book, S-Z, 1918-1940s
97
1
Artist Commissions, Commission Credits and Purchases, 1930-1938
97
2
Artist Commissions, Commission Credits and Purchases, 1938-1951
97
3
Artist Credit Books, 1892-1910
98
1
Artist Credit Books, 1910-1916
98
2
Artist Credit Books, 1917-1918 June
98
3
Artist Credit Books, 1918 July-1927
98
4
Artist Credit Books, 1927 May-1930 March
98
5
Artist Registers, circa 1924-1944
107
1
Artist Registers, 1939-1954
107
2
Balance Sheets, 1954, 1955
99
1
Bills and Statements, 1909-1912
99
2
Bills and Statements, 1912-1915
99
3
Bills and Statements, A-L, 1915
99
4
Bills and Statements, M-Z, 1915
99
5
Bills and Statements, A-G, 1916
99
6
Bills and Statements, G-M, 1916
99
7
Bills and Statements, N-Z, 1916
99
8
Bills and Statements, A-H, 1917
99
9
Bills and Statements, H-Z, 1917
99
10
Bills and Statements, A-G, 1918
99
11
Bills and Statements, H-O, 1918
99
12
Bills and Statements, P-Z, 1918
99
13
Bills and Statements, A-G, 1919
99
14
Bills and Statements, H-P, 1919
99
15
Bills and Statements, R-Z, 1919
99
16
Bills and Statements, A-F, 1920
99
17
Bills and Statements, G-Z, 1920
99
18
Bills and Statements, A-F, 1921
100
1
Bills and Statements, G-Z, 1921
100
2
Bills and Statements, A-F, 1922
100
3
Bills and Statements, G-M, 1922
100
4
Bills and Statements, N-Z, 1922
100
5
Bills and Statements, A-C, 1923
100
6
Bills and Statements, D-H, 1923
100
7
Bills and Statements, J-N, 1923
100
8
Bills and Statements, O-Z, 1923
100
9
Bills and Statements, A-C, 1924
100
10
Bills and Statements, D-L, 1924
100
11
Bills and Statements, M-Z, 1924
100
12
Bills and Statements, A-C, 1925
100
13
Bills and Statements, D-H, 1925
100
14
Bills and Statements, J-N, 1925
100
15
Bills and Statements, O-Z, 1925
100
16
Bills and Statements, A-C, 1926
100
17
Bills and Statements, D-H, 1926
100
18
Bills and Statements, I-M, 1926
100
19
Bills and Statements, N-R, 1926
100
20
Bills and Statements, S-Z, 1926
100
21
Bills and Statements, A-B, 1927
100
22
Bills and Statements, C-F, 1927
100
23
Bills and Statements, G-L, 1927
100
24
Bills and Statements, A-B, 1929
101
1
Bills and Statements, C-D, 1929
101
2
Bills and Statements, E-G, 1929
101
3
Bills and Statements, H-K, 1929
101
4
Bills and Statements, L-N, 1929
101
5
Bills and Statements, O-S, 1929
101
6
Bills and Statements, S-Z, 1929
101
7
Bills and Statements, A-B, 1930
101
8
Bills and Statements, C, 1930
101
9
Bills and Statements, D-F, 1930
101
10
Bills and Statements, G-H, 1930
101
11
Bills and Statements, J-L, 1930
101
12
Bills and Statements, M-N, 1930
101
13
Bills and Statements, O-S, 1930
101
14
Bills and Statements, S-Z, 1930
101
15
Bills and Statements, A-B, 1932
101
16
Bills and Statements, C-D, 1932
101
17
Bills and Statements, E-J, 1932
101
18
Bills and Statements, K-M, 1932
101
19
Bills and Statements, N-R, 1932
101
20
Bills and Statements, T-Z, S, 1932
101
21
Bills and Statements, A-B, 1934
102
1
Bills and Statements, C-D, 1934
102
2
Bills and Statements, E-H, 1934
102
3
Bills and Statements, E-L, 1934
102
4
Bills and Statements, M-N, 1934
102
5
Bills and Statements, O-R, 1934
102
6
Bills and Statements, S-T, 1934
102
7
Bills and Statements, V-Z, 1934
102
8
Bills and Statements, A-G, 1945
102
9
Bills and Statements, H-N, 1945
102
10
Bills and Statements, P-Z, 1945
102
11
Bills and Statements, A-L, 1947
102
12
Bills and Statements, M-W, 1947
102
13
Bills and Statements, A-L, 1948
102
14
Bills and Statements, M-W, 1948
102
15
Bills and Statements, A-I, 1949
102
16
Bills and Statements, J-Z, 1949
102
17
Bills and Statements, A-L, 1950
102
18
Bills and Statements, M-Z, 1950
102
19
Bills and Statements, A-M, 1951
102
20
Bills and Statements, M-W, 1951
102
21
Bills and Statements, A-L, 1952
102
22
Bills and Statements, M-Y, 1952
102
23
Cash Books, 1895-1899
103
1
Cash Books, 1899-1903
103
2
Cash Books, 1903-1906
103
3
Cash Books, 1907-1910
103
4
Cash Books, 1910-1912
104
1
Cash Books, 1912-1914
104
2
Cash Books, 1914-1915
104
3
Cash Books, 1915 October-1917 August
104
4
Cash Books, 1917 September-1918 December
104
5
Cash Books, 1918 July-1921 October
104
6
Cash Books, 1921 November-1925 March
104
7
Cash Books, 1925 April-1928 April
104
8
Cash Books, 1928 May-1931 March
104
9
Cash Books, 1931 April-1934 July
104
10
Cash Books, 1943 May-1947 March
104
11
Cash Books, 1947 April-1951 October
104
12
Charge ("Order") Books, 1892-1895
105
1
Charge ("Order") Books, 1895-1897
105
2
Charge ("Order") Books, 1892-1898
105
3
Charge ("Order") Books, 1898-1900
105
4
Charge ("Order") Books, 1901-1904
105
5
Charge ("Order") Books, 1899-1904
105
6
Charge ("Order") Books, 1904-1909
105
7
Charge ("Order") Books, 1910-1915 March
106
1
Charge ("Order") Books, 1915 April-1918 June
106
2
Charge ("Order") Books, 1917 February-1918 August
106
3
Charge ("Order") Books, 1918 July-1927 October
106
4
Charge ("Order") Books, 1927 November-1931 September
106
5
Charge ("Order") Books, 1931 October-1941
107
3
Consignment Book, 1926-1951
108
1
Consignment Book, 1926-1951
108
2
Journal, 1904-1909
108
3
Journal, 1918-1929
108
4
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, 1920-1921
109
1
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, Artists Framing Company, 1922
109
2
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, A, 1922
109
3
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, B-F, 1922
109
4
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, G-H, 1922
109
5
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, J-M, 1922
109
6
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, N-S, 1922
109
7
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, 1923
109
8
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, 1933
109
9
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, A, 1934
109
10
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, B, 1934
109
11
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, D-F, 1934
109
12
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, G-H, 1934
109
13
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, K-M, 1934
109
14
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, O-P, 1934
109
15
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, S, 1934
109
16
Miscellaneous Incoming Bills, 1935
109
17
Miscellaneous Insurance Cards, 1936-1953
109
18
Miscellaneous Receipts, circa 1896-1956
109
19
Miscellaneous Receipts, circa 1896-1956
109
20
Monthly Sales Books, 1905-1913
109
21
Petty Cash Book, 1927-1931
110
1
Purchase Books and Commission Credits, 1910-1917
110
2
Purchase Books and Commission Credits, 1917 October-1918 June
110
3
Purchase Books and Commission Credits, 1918 July-1919 May
110
4
Purchase Books and Commission Credits, 1918 July-1925 January
110
5
Purchase Books and Commission Credits, 1925 February-1928 April
110
6
Purchase Books and Commission Credits, 1928 May-1930 March
110
7
Shipping Ledgers, Incoming Express and Parcel Post, 1936-1950
110
8
Shipping Ledgers, Local Temporary Incoming, 1936-1943
110
9
Shipping Ledgers, Local Temporary Outgoing, 1936-1949
110
10
Shipping Ledgers, Outgoing Express, 1933-1941
110
11
Shipping Ledgers, Outgoing Express, 1941-1953
110
12
Tax Book, 1919-1938
110
13
Untitled Notebook of Annual Sales Figures, 1892-1935
110
14

Make a Request

  • To request an appointment to view materials, make your selections using the checkboxes and click the "Reading Room" button. Please note, you will receive the full box.
  • To request reproductions, make your selections using the checkboxes and click the "Reproduction" button.