Elihu Yale collection

The Elihu Yale Collection is a compilation of printed materials and photographs — and a few original documents — concerning Elihu Yale (1649-1721), one of Yale College's early benefactors. The materials cover the dates 1610 (photostat)-1987. Only a small part of the collection could be considered as the papers of Elihu Yale or the Yale family; in almost every case the collection contains only the photostatic copy of a document housed elsewhere (particularly at the Public Record Office in London). The chief exceptions to this are an intriguing eighteenth-century manuscript volume of recipes, prepared for Yale's granddaughter, Lady Barbara North, and one volume of a rare printed catalogue of Yale's estate.

Most of the material about Yale is printed matter, available elsewhere, but there are also notes, typescripts and letters by various people interested in Elihu Yale. Of these, the largest single segment is that collected by Charles Hervey Townshend (1833-1904).

Because of the many sources, and the likelihood that material will be added from time to time, the collection has been arranged topically rather than by author. The more significant items, however, though filed according to topic, are foldered and listed individually. Oversize materials concerning all topics are filed in the folios at the end of the collection.

For further photographs, the reader should consult the "Individuals" section of the Yale Picture Collection. Books about Elihu Yale are catalogued under Ycz. Y2.