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Archive: 2020 (13 Posts)

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

From the Serial Set: In Diplomatic Fashion

Posted by: Bailey DeSimone

Every so often, the Digital Resources Division comes across a unique subject of debate. Most recently, the question of “the uniform or costume of persons in the diplomatic or consular service” caught our attention. (S. Exec. Doc. No. 31, 36th Cong., 1st Sess., at 1 (1860) reprinted in Serial Set Vol. 1031.) In an 1860 …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

From (and Before) the Serial Set: Collecting the American State Papers

Posted by: Bailey DeSimone

Congressional documents preceding the Serial Set from 1789 to 1817 became the American State Papers. However, these documents were not collected and published until the 1830s, when “[t]he volumes of Congressional documents, [sic] [became] too numerous for easy reference, and we (Congress) [found] a great difficulty in keeping our (the) series perfect.” (H. Doc. no. 35, …