Historic Industry & Trade Literature

The Baker Old Class collection is Baker Library’s first circulating collection. These materials offer a depth and breadth rarely seen in business literature collections. The extensive holdings include trade publications, government documents, corporate histories and publications, and business directories. The unique arrangement of the collection brings together books, periodicals, and pamphlets organized by industry.

The Classification of Business Literature provides an overview of this system, explicitly created for Harvard Business School. The Baker Old Class collection is a valuable tool for historical research, particularly for tracing the development and growth of American business and industry from the late 19th century to the first decades of the 20th century. The collection also includes international material, some of which is held only in Special Collections & Archives.

Baker Old Class titles are cataloged in the Harvard Library catalog HOLLIS. Items available online through HOLLIS will be tagged Online Access.

Browse Baker Old Class

You can schedule a time to browse the Baker Old Class stacks during Special Collections & Archives open hours using the Appointment Request Form. We will coordinate your visit when staff are available to accompany you to the stacks. All selected volumes must be used in the Beaubien Reading room.