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Time Inc. International Records

Call Number

MS 3009-RG 56

Date

1957-1974, 1984-1997, inclusive

Creator

Time, inc.

Extent

8 Linear feet in 8 record cartons.

Language of Materials

The materials in the collection are in English.

Abstract

Time Inc. International marketed and published Time Inc. magazines outside the United States. It set up offices in various cities around the world to work on regional version of magazines, made deals to license the names of Time Inc. magazines to foreign publishers, and occasionally published original magazines in foreign territories. The collection consists of correspondence, reports, data on sales and expenses, projections and propositions for the future, and printed presentations. This record group includes files from earlier divisions that provided the same function such as Time Life International (TLI) and Corporate International.

Historical Note

Time Life International was responsible for the sale of Time Inc. magazines outside the United States. This included setting up offices in cities around the world and establishing communications between this foreign offices and Time Inc. headquarters in New York City and printing and shipping versions of American magazines (such as Time ) tailored for specific regions around the world. Time Inc. headquarters retained significant control over foreign offices in terms of editorial, hiring, changes in pay and benefits for employees, and purchasing of office space and equipment. Between 1967 and 1968 the name of the division was changed to Corporate International, but seems to have retained the same staff and functions. Later, a division called Time Inc. International handled these same functions, suggesting the latter is the same division after another name change, but there is not direct evidence for this in the collection.

In addition to the functions described above, Time Inc. International also made deals with foreign publishers to license the names of Time Inc. magazines such as Fortune; such operations were governed by agreements regarding content and style but not under the direct control of Time Inc. Time Inc. International also published original magazines in foreign countries such as Who Weekly in Australia.

Arrangement

The materials within the Time Inc. International Files record group are organized into three series: I. International Offices Files; III. Vice President Martin Gardner Files; and III. Mike Taylor Files.

Scope and Contents

Part of the collection contains records using the name Time Life International and part contains records using the name Time Inc. International. See the Historical Note for more information. During the time span represented by their files in the collection, Martin Gardner was Vice President of Time Inc. International and Mike Taylor worked on "strategic aspects of international magazine publishing" according to his LinkedIn profile viewed in 2021.

The collection consists of correspondence, reports and information on ad sales, subscriptions, and expenses for Time Inc. International Magazines, discussion of pay and benefits for employees, assessments of the states of publishing ventures and proposals for future action, budgets, and samples of magazines.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials in this collection are stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Open to qualified researchers with the exception of restricted materials. Restricted materials include contracts and employees' personal information. Restricted materials are located in box R86.

Conditions Governing Use

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This record group should be cited as Time Inc. International Records, MS 3009-RG 56, New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection are stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Time Inc. in 2015.

Related Materials

This finding aid relates to just one record group of the Time Inc. Records. For information about the other record groups and for overall information about the archives, please see the Guide to the Time Inc. Records (MS 3009). The Henry Luce Papers (MS 3014) were acquired with the Time Inc. Records. The collection of books acquired with the records are cataloged as the Time Inc. Reference Library.

Some records from TLI Managing Director Charles Bear and his assistant Howard Dunn are in Bear's files in the Office of the Vice President of Administration and International Files in the Time Inc. Corporate Administation Records (MS 3009-RG 5).

The Time Inc. Annex Files (MS 3009-RG 39) contain further information about international business and international editions of various Time Inc. magazines.

The Edgar R. Baker Papers (MS 3156) document his tenure as head of Time-Life International from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s and changes in the division during that time.

Collection processed by

Allen Thomas

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:47:44 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is in English

Processing Information

The Time Inc. International Records were processed by Allen Thomas in 2021. The original folders were retained although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding. Allen Thomas created the inventory and other descriptive notes to produce this finding aid. The records were organized into series based on the original groupings of folders, and arrangement was imposed.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024