M-116: Ephram George Squier Collection
HISTORY: Ephram George Squier (1821-1888) was a newspaperman, an ethnologist/archaeologist and a famous diplomat. He was the editor the Civil War-era publication, Frank Leslie’s Pictorial History of the American Civil War, and was the author or editor of many important works on Latin America, and on the archaeology of native America. He is especially well-known for his ground-breaking research on the Mound Builders of prehistoric America, and the Smithsonian Institution published his Aboriginal Monuments of the Mississippi Valley in the 1840’s.
In 1876 Squier put much of his reference library up for sale in New York by Joseph Sabin, and this collection was considered so important that the Mercantile Library bid heavily at the sale, acquiring some of its most important books on Native Americans at this time. The Centennial era in the United States saw the first flowering of interest in “Americana”; Squier’s books were one of many important libraries that appeared on the market at this time, and through which libraries such as the Mercantile were able to enrich their holdings in this field.
SCOPE: The collection comprises books, pamphlets and papers which covers the range of Squire’s interest in prehistoric America. Works in French, Spanish, and English, from the sixteenth through the nineteenth century, and which relate to the customs and history of native Americans, and travel and exploratory accounts in the New World account for the bulk of the collection, to which is added rare, nineteenth-century scientific tracts and pamphlets on such topics as native religion and folklore, often with transcriptions and notes from the author to Squier, such as George Catlin’s heavily annotated gift copy of his study of the Mandan religion, O-Kee-Pa.
HOLDINGS: Approximately 200 volumes of printed books and manuscripts.
ACCESS: Special Collection M-116 is catalogued and accessible through cards and a supplementary card index. Portions of the collection may be photocopied, digitally scanned, or photographed.