Conditions Governing Use:

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Conditions Governing Access:

The collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Custodial History:

Acc. 1988.001 formerly kept with Tyler Family Papers, Mss and Rare Books Dept. Acc. 1988.123 culled from WMQ correspondence files.

Preferred Citation:

College of William and Mary William and Mary Quarterly Records, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information:

Acc. 1988.001 acquired 01/07/1988; Acc. 1988.113 acquired 10/20/1988. Acquisition information for material received after 7/13/2009 is available by consulting a Special Collections Research Center staff member.

Processing Information:

Acc. 2010.295 accessioned and minimally processed by Steven Bookman, University Archives Specialist, in May 2010.

Historical Note:

The William and Mary Quarterly is published in January, April, July, and October by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia. The journal originated in 1892, making it one of the oldest scholarly journals in the United States. Currently in its Third Series, the Quarterly is the leading journal for the study of early American history and culture. It ranges chronologically from Old World-New World contacts to about 1820. Geographically, it focuses on North America - from New France and the Spanish-American borderlands to British America and the Caribbean - and extends to Europe and West Africa. Although grounded in history, it welcomes works from all disciplines - for example, literature, law, political science, anthropology, archaeology, material culture, cultural studies - bearing on the early American period.

Approximately 125 manuscripts are submitted to the WMQ each year. About one in eight manuscripts is accepted after in-house evaluation and thorough peer review. Accepted articles receive close substantive editing. Extensive backlogs of articles are avoided; ideally, articles are published within about a year of acceptance. The Quarterly aims to be accessible to all: the work of graduate students, junior faculty, and unaffiliated scholars is welcome. Three prizes are available to Quarterly authors, and many of the journal's articles attract considerable reprint interest.

Circulation presently stands at about 3,700, distributed almost equally between individuals and institutions. One in ten subscribers is foreign. Further information about this individual or organization may be available in the Special Collections Research Center Wiki:

Scope and Contents

Acc. 1988.001 consists of two boxes of correspondence arranged alphabetically.  The correspondence is primarily about business aspects of publishing the Quarterly, but also includes genealogical information, editorial comments, some article manuscripts, a list of advertisers (1910-1913), and some fliers.

Acc. 1988.113 consists of one box of correspondence between Earl G. Swem and various  printers, authors, and others about the William and Mary Quarterly (2d Series).

Acc. 2010.295 contains correspondence between William and Mary  librarian Earl Gregg Swem, Wilbur C. Hall, and George Nicholas about publishing articles by Nicholas and Hall in the William and Mary Quarterly  from 1937 to 1938.

Acc. 2010.340 contains an article by John Bigelow entitled "The Works of Benjamin Franklin" edited by College of William  and Mary  Librarian Earl Gregg Swem. The article may have been published in the  William and Mary Quarterly .

Related Material

UA 15: Bound Volumes 70, 71, 72, and 73.

UA 27: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture Records

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Correspondence
• Genealogy
• Manuscripts (document genre)
• Typescripts
• Virginia--Genealogy