Historic Industry and Trade Literature

Trace the development and growth of global business and industry from the late nineteenth century through the first half of the twentieth century.
ABC pathfinder railway guide, August 1886 HOLLIS record
Baker Library, Harvard Business School

The Historic Industry and Trade Literature Collection, also known as Baker Old Class, is the original circulating collection of Harvard Business School.

The unique arrangement of the collection groups publications by industry, allowing researchers to readily browse related research materials. A Classification of Business Literature provides an overview of this system, devised specifically for Harvard Business School. 

Subjects include:

  • advertising and marketing
  • banking
  • business and economic conditions
  • credit 
  • financial services
  • organization and industrial management
  • public relations
  • transportation

This collection is a valuable resource for researchers hoping to gather and analyze data, and holdings include corporate histories, directories, government documents, handbooks, pamphlets, and trade publications that are not widely available.

Baker Old Class titles are cataloged in the Harvard Library catalog HOLLIS. Select titles are available digitally.

Related materials

Several Baker Library exhibits draw upon these materials, including:

Accessing These Materials

All materials are available for use in Baker Library's de Gaspé Beaubien Reading Room. Contact us to learn more about using the collections or obtaining reproductions.

Contact

Baker Library Special Collections and Archives