Chester F. Carlson papers

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Collection Data

Description
Chester Floyd Carlson (1906-1968) was an American patent attorney who invented xerography in 1938. Collection consists of correspondence, technical papers, writings, personal and financial papers, photographs, ephemera, and printed matter. General correspondence reflects Carlson's philanthropic interests; technical correspondence, laboratory notebooks, patent files, and other papers relate to his invention of xerography and to its commercial development. Other papers include family correspondence, diaries for 1928 to 1968, financial papers, speeches and other writings, scrapbooks of printed ephemera related to xerography, and photographs of trips to the Soviet Union and India. Also, papers relating to parapsychology and to the economic development of Guyana, 1966-1968.
Names
Carlson, Chester Floyd, 1906-1968 (Creator)
Carlson, Dorie (Correspondent)
Carlson, Roy, 1927- (Correspondent)
Kornei, Otto (Author)
Kornei, Otto (Addressee)
Carlson family (Contributor)
Battelle Memorial Institute (Publisher)
Xerox Corporation (Contributor)
Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1898 - 1975
Library locations
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Shelf locator: MssCol 472
Topics
Charities
Inventions -- United States
Office equipment and supplies industry -- United States
Parapsychology
Xerography
Guyana -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1966
India
Soviet Union
Inventors
Philanthropists
Genres
Diaries
Patents
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Ephemera
Correspondence
writings (documents)
Notes
Biographical/historical: Chester F. Carlson 1906-1968, patent attorney and inventor of xerography, was the son of poor Swedish immigrants. Carlson graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 1930. One of Carlson's first jobs was with the patent firm of P. R. Mallory. One of the aspects of patents is that multiple copies of patents are often needed. Prior to the 1930s, before xerography, the process was costly and slow. Carlson, therefore, sought to develop a quick and inexpensive copying machine. Through extensive research, with many hours spent at the New York Public Library and with the assistance of a refugee physicist, Otto Kornei, he perfected the process. On October 22 1938, the first image read "10-22- Astoria". Carlson's invention did not sell at first, because of a lack of commercial interest. During the year 1944, the Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio agreed to market the process. In January 1947, the Haloid Corporation later the Xerox Co., made a licensing agreement with the Battelle Corporation. The first xerox machine was marketed in 1950; the royalties eventually made Carlson a multi-millionaire. Carlson was also known as a philanthropist. Carlson died in 1968; he was survived by his wife Dorrie Carlson and a daughter, Catherine.
Content: The Chester F. Carlson Papers contain the papers of Chester F. Carlson (1906-1968), attorney and inventor of xerography. The papers, by bulk, concern technical and scientific subjects and to a lesser extent family and outside interests. The main series are general correspondence, 1912-1969, technical correspondence, 1938-1963, contribution file, technical papers and subject papers.
Additional physical form: Available on microfilm; New York Public Library; *ZL-341
Acquisition: 1972 Carlson, Mrs. Chester F. Gift
Physical Description
Extent: 44 linear feet (86 boxes, 13 v.); 71 microfilm reels
Type of Resource
Text
Still image
Identifiers
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b12354885
MSS Unit ID: 472
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 0cd68c20-07fe-0139-a640-0242ac110005
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x Rights: Public Domain