Some time ago, an agent of the Business Historical Society located for us a collection of early customs records, many of them manuscript. Unfortunately no funds were available and the papers went elsewhere. Recently they again came to light, and this time, some money being forthcoming, the Society bought them. The papers, from the district to which they mainly relate, have been provisionally termed the Marblehead Collection. The bulk of them consists of port records — entries and clearances, customs officials' correspondence, dating from about 1790 and running to about 1825, with some similar material for the period of the 'thirties and 'forties. There are also a large number of printed customs instructions, circulars to officers, and so on. These run from about 1840 to about 1868.