LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Rider University has received a $31,000 grant from The New York Community Trust - John Robert Gregg Fund to complete the cataloging and begin preservation of the Louis A. Leslie collection of shorthand materials.

Bequeathed to Rider in 1983 by the late Louis A. Leslie, one of the world's foremost shorthand authorities, this notable collection is housed in Moore Library. Dr. Leslie had spent more than 50 years collecting shorthand materials from around the world. The collection contains every shorthand system ever invented and hundreds of systems that were unsuccessful but influenced later authors.

The John Robert Gregg Fund previously provided gifts totaling $24,000 from 1985 to 1996 toward work on the collection.

"We appreciate the generosity of the John Robert Gregg Fund of The New York Community Trust in allowing us to complete the cataloging of this significant and valuable collection," said Elizabeth Smith, dean of university libraries. "The collection contains a wealth of information for historians, sociologists, and philosophers."

Dr. Walter A. Brower, professor of education and dean emeritus at Rider who was instrumental in the University receiving the Leslie collection, notes, "It is one of the most significant collections of shorthand material to be found anywhere. It is appropriate Rider has this collection because of its history in business education since 1865."

The Leslie collection includes books inscribed in shorthand by such noted shorthand authors as Sir Isaac Pitman and John Robert Gregg, as well as complete files of shorthand periodicals and shorthand books in many languages. All European languages are represented. There are also textbooks in Hebrew, Chinese, and Japanese, as well as less common languages such as Tagalog, Thai, and Erse.

In addition, the collection reveals how many authors handled copyright problems in the 18th century. They printed statements at the beginning of their books that the book is not genuine unless signed by the author and, at times, prohibited the resale of the book. The collection also includes letters that Civil War soldiers wrote in shorthand to magazine editors and to their wives or sweethearts, as well as shorthand renditions of the Bible and various well-known works of literature.

In supporting of the completion of cataloging work, Dr. James Dickinson, professor of sociology at Rider, said, "The Leslie Collection promises to be a very important resource for scholars and others conducting research on business history including the history and evolution of occupations, the changing nature and structure of office work, and the development of information and communication technologies within the business environment."