This series consists of fifteen volumes pertaining to the finances of Edward Penington. Four of the fifteen are account books from Penington's sugar house, including the names of customers (both individuals and institutions) and the goods provided, including sugar as well as tea, coffee, and chocolate. The books provide varying amounts of information on the recorded transactions, from a simple listing of the name of the customer and the amount of product and money changing hands to a detailed account of the proceedings. In addition to his regular business transactions, Edward Penington, like many men of capital, often lent money at interest. One entry in the 1774-1785 account book indicates that, on October 24, 1775, Penington provided three pounds to "Robert Philips (a negro)...lent him towards purchasing his freedom."

Other accounting volumes include a waste book belonging to Edward and Isaac Penington, in which rough descriptions of transactions were kept before they were transferred to a journal. This series contains one of these journals, a journal of assignees from 1811-1817, along with a ledger of assignees from 1811 to 1812 documenting the transfer of interest and goods owed to specific parties. The documented expenses include lists of employees and wages, supplemented by individual entries for paid tasks such as "hawling dirt." In addition to these records of commercial activity and business finance, Edward Penington kept records of his personal or family expenses. Two volumes, a daybook and an expense book, show the financial activity of the Penington family from 1807 to 1813 and 1820 to 1829, respectively, including money spent on servants' wages, clothing, food, laundry, and books. The inside cover of the expense book also features a "recipe for blacking" and a "mixture for a cough" involving gum arabic, paregoric, antimonial wine, "liquorice," and water.

The only volume in the series that was not used for accounting, a book of Edward Penington's reflections on the tricks of his trade, reveals Penington's interest in experimentation in pursuit of maximum efficiency. In this volume, Penington explains: "I have frequently thought since I have been successful in the sugar baking business to commit some observations to writing that may be usefull to some of my family, when I may have bid Adieu to this world." Penington then recounts his years as an apprentice to the incompetent Peter Finges, and the innovations that eventually secured him his success. Of particular importance to Penington's methods was his use of lime water. In this tract, he describes how he arrived at the ideal amount of lime water to use in his baking, as well as his manipulations of other baking conditions in pursuit of a higher, finer yield.

Hints of this perfectionism are also reflected in a short bit of writing on lima beans, penned on the inside cover of Penington's 1774-1785 account book. "Planted lima beans in a hot bed--April 9, 1774," it reads, "planted others in the open ground about the 25th April. I think they were both too early." After some consideration of the crops, Penington reaches a conclusion at the bottom of the page. "The lima beans in 1774 were not only planted too thick but the holes were put in such a manner as to make an arbour," he writes, "...let the rows in the future be 10 or 12 feet asunder and plant cabbage between." A document listing the account information of Jacob Crownfield with Elias Derby, dated 1793, is the only loose item in this subseries. The relationship of these men to Penington is not specified.

The correspondence that forms this subseries, all of which is incoming, consists almost entirely of materials related to the book and antiquities business of John Penington also known, after 1854, as Penington & Son. Operating out of his Fifth Street bookshop, Penington specialized in the delivery of foreign and classical texts, both in their original languages and in translation. In addition, Penington sometimes fielded requests for historical texts or texts pertaining to archaeology, Native American history, science, and engineering, as well as subscription requests for journals and periodicals. Penington also took orders for specific goods, such as stationery, maps, sheet music, and miniatures of political figures, including Presidents John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren.

A well-known agent, Penington received these specialized requests from locations around the country, including orders from Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida, Ohio, and Indiana. Almost all of the letters in this subseries include an order from one of Penington's catalogues, a request for a listing of available books, or a reference to an order already placed, received, or outstanding. Occasionally a letter will open with a few lines of personal information, usually explaining a delayed payment or response with news of an illness or death in the family. There are also a couple of letters from Penington's brother, Henry, and a few letters on the 1847 death of his nephew and business associate Samuel Riggs.

In addition to meeting requests from individuals, Penington supplied teachers and institutions such as the Smithsonian, the College of William and Mary, the University of Virginia, Trinity College (Conn.), Ohio Wesleyan University, and various prisons and religious organizations. Since Penington's was a credit-based business, unpaid bills were a constant concern. Several letters in this subseries refer to lawsuits brought by Penington against non-paying customers.

In addition to unsettled accounts, Penington also had to field critical correspondence from unsatisfied customers and others. One letter, sent to an absent Penington in 1864 from an employee at his shop, includes some personal information as well as a report on the complaints of William B. Reed on the Reed and Cadwalader pamphlet sold by Penington and others. "Bill Reed wrote an impudent letter regarding our selling the Reed & Cadwalader," the employee, identified only as Ned, wrote to Penington, adding: "I don't like to be bullied by anyone much less by such a damned copper head traitor as he is." On the following page of the letter is a picture of a copperhead snake with the head of a man, labeled "Wm B Reed."

The mixed materials comprising this subseries are nearly all orders, bills, and receipts relating to Penington's bookshop and mail order service. The orders are sometimes written requests, but appear more often simply as lists of titles. Bills and receipts are usually for book or subscription orders, shipping costs, or bank drafts. There are also some scattered legal billing materials related to suits in which John Penington was ostensibly involved, although the connection is not always apparent. There are not many records of personal expenses.

This subseries contains listings of titles available from various vendors through John Penington's shop. These lists would be distributed to Penington's customers, and bear the Penington stamp to remind potential customers of where they might order the titles locally. Among the catalogues and individual advertisements are lists specifically for seekers of maps and atlases, Christian tracts, and books on the occult from sources in England, France, Germany, and the United States.

The correspondence of which this series is composed relates primarily to the death of Henry Carey Baird's uncle, author and publisher Henry C. Carey. In addition, there is one letter from former Pennsylvania Governor Andrew G. Curtin, dated 1863. Another letter, from economics professor Arthur L. Perry, comments on various publications relating to Baird's work on political economy. This letter, the latest of the correspondence, is dated 1882.