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Leander James McCormick Collection of Papers and Scale Models concerning the Inventions of Robert McCormick of Rockbridge County, Virginia, Accession #7027, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
According to the 1910 Sept. 12 affadavit of James Hall Shields, the models were constructed prior to 1894 by Leaner [James] McCormick, son of Robert McCormick. The models, and the manuscripts collected by Leander, were inherited by his son, Robert Hall McCormick II, and then in turn by his son, Robert Hall McCormick II, and then in turn by his son, Robert Hall McCormick III of Chicago, Illinois.
The collection, augmented with six copies of The Life and Works ..., was presented for the Library of the University of Virginia by Robert Hall McCormick III on April 8, 1960 and formally accessioned by the Manuscripts Department on March 11, 1963. A display case for the permanent exhibition of the models was presented by the estate of Leander J. McCormick. An additional copy of The Life and Works ....(bound in brown covers vice the blue covers of the previous six) was received from the Gifts and Exchange Department of the University of Virginia Library on February 17, 1971. On February 21, 1971, the manuscripts were removed from the binder in which they were presented and individually filed in acid-free folders.
The Leander James McCormick Collection of Papers and Scale Models concerning the Inventions of Robert McCormick consists of 23 manuscript letters and affadavits, 1878-1910, in testimony of the invention of the reaper by Robert McCormick [1780-1846], 7 copies of The Life and Works of Robert McCormick Including his Invention of the Reaper , and 8 scale models of Robert McCormick's inventions.
Most are published in The Life and Works of Robert McCormick , below [some incorrect dates]. Most are endorsed by Leander J. McCormick.
6 copies with untrimmed blue paper covers
1 copy with brown paper covers
The models, constructed by Robert McCormick's son, are on permanent display in the University of Virginia Library.