George Meissner, 1872-1960. American collector and businessman
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Finding-Aid for the George Meissner Papers [00080]Collection Description
Papers, 1300-1946786 items
Access: Open.
Born in Illinois and educated in St. Louis, Meissner worked for the McKinney Bread Co., a manufacturer of breads and bakery products. For a time, Meissner managed the McKinney Plant. He served as Secretary from 1893 to 1911. When the company was sold to the General Baking Co. of New York City (at that time the largest baking corporation in America), he became Manager and Director. He also served as a Director of General Baking Company. In addition to his career at General Baking, Meissner served as Vice-President of Jefferson Bank and the Secretary and Treasurer of the Wholesale Bakers’ Club of St. Louis.
An avid book-collector, Meissner collected more than 2500 books and 350 manuscripts, focusing particularly on Americana and the nineteenth century. His collections were donated by his family and founded the George N. Meissner Memorial Rare Book Department at Washington University.
The portion of George N. Meissner's collections housed in the Manuscripts Division contains a wide variety of materials. These include: letters, official documents, literary manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts, engravings, and a few printed items. Highlights of the collection include a manuscript by Americus Vespucius, as well as a manuscript by Michelangelo. The collection contains at least one autograph of each of the Presidents of the United States through Wilson, with several by Washington and Lincoln.
Selected Names
Adams, John, 1735-1826. Second President of the United States.Adams, John Quincey, 1767-1848. Sixth President of the United States.
Alcott, A. Bronson, 1799-1888. American educator and activist.
Arthur, Chester A., 1829-1886. Twenty-first President of the United States.
Benjamin-Constant, Jean Joseph, 1767-1830. French author.
Bolivar, Simón, 1783-1830. Venezuelan politician.
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 1769-1821. French monarch
Browning, Robert, 1812-1889. British author.
Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1878. American author.
Buchanan, James, 1791-1868. Fifteenth President of the United States.
Burns, Robert, 1759-1796. Scottish author.
Cable, George Washington, 1844-1925. American author.
Calhoun, John C., 1782-1850. American politician.
Clay, Henry, 1777-1882. American politician.
Clemens, Samuel Langhorne (Mark Twain), 1835-1910. American author.
Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908. Twenty-second and twenty-fourth President of the United States.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1732-1834. British author.
Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889. President of the Confederate States of America.
Delacroix, Ferdinand Victor Eugene, 1798-1863. French artist.
Dodgson, Charles Lutwidge (Lewis Carroll), 1832-1898. British author and mathematician.
Douglas, Lord Alfred Bruce, 1870-1945. British author.
Douglas, Stephen, 1813-1861. American politician.
Dreiser, Theodore, 1871-1945. American author.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882. American author and philosopher.
Field, Eugene, 1850-1895. American author.
Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874. Thirteenth President of the United States.
Galsworthy, John, 1867-1933. British author.
Garfield, James, 1831-1881. Twentieth President of the United States.
Garland, Hamlin, 1860-1940. American author.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749-1832. German author and philosopher.
Grant, Ulysses S., 1822-1885. Eighteenth President of the United States.
Hamilton, Alexander, 1755-1804. American politician.
Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901. Twenty-third President of the United States.
Harrison, William Henry, 1773-1841. Ninth President of the United States.
Hayes, Rutherford, 1822-1893. Nineteenth President of the United States.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1841-1935. American jurist.
Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920. American author.
Hunt, Leigh, 1784-1859. British author and journalist.
Ingres, Jean Auguste Dominique, 1780-1867. French artist.
Irving, Washington, 1783-1859. American author.
Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845. Seventh President of the United States.
James, Henry, 1843-1916. American author.
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826. Third President of the United States.
Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875. Seventeenth President of the United States.
Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936. British author.
Knox, Henry, 1750-1806. American politician.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865. Sixteenth President of the United States.
London, Jack, 1876-1916. American author.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882. American author.
Lowell, James Russell, 1819-1891. American author.
McKinley, William, 1843-1901. Twenty-fifth President of the United States.
Madison, James, 1751-1836. Fourth President of the United States.
Masters, Edgar Lee, 1869-1950. American author.
Medici I, Ferdinand de, 1610-1670. Italian duke.
Medici, Marie de, 1573-1642. French monarch.
Meredith, George, 1828-1909. British author.
Monroe, James, 1758-1831. Fifth President of the United States.
Pierce, Franklin, 1804-1869. Fourteenth President of the United States.
Polk, James K., 1795-1849. Eleventh President of the United States.
Revere, Paul, 1735-1818. American political leader.
Riley, James Whitcomb, 1849-1916. American author.
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919. Twenty-sixth President of the United States.
Rubens, Peter Paul, 1577-1640. Flemish artist.
Rush, Benjamin, 1745?-1813. American physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence
Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich von, 1759-1805. German author and philosopher.
Southey, Robert, 1774-1843. British author.
Staël, Anne Louise Germaine Necker de, 1866-1817. French author.
Stanley, Henry Morton, 1841-1904. American explorer and journalist.
Steuben, Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von, 1730-1794. Prussian-American general.
Taft, William Howard, 1857-1930. Twenty-seventh President of the United States.
Tarkington, Booth, 1869-1946. American author.
Taylor, Zachary, 1784-1850. Twelfth President of the United States.
Tenniel, John, 1820-1914. British illustrator.
Thackeray, William Makepeace, 1811-1863. British author.
Tyler, John, 1790-1862. Tenth President of the United States.
Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862. Eighth President of the United States.
Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de, 1694-1778. French author and philosopher.
Washington, George, 1732-1799. First President of the United States.
Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852. American politician.
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. American author.
Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892. American author.
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924. Twenty-eighth President of the United States.