New additions

• The Improvement of the Mississippi River (1884)
• Rumsey's Short Treatise on the Application of Steam (1788)
• Letter on Behalf of Rumsey (1788)
• Remarks on John Fitch's Reply to James Rumsey's Pamphlet (1788)
• The First Steamboat Voyage on the Western Waters (1871)
• Documents from the Illinois State Historical Library Manuscripts Collection
• Exerpts from Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society
• 1901
• 1903
• 1905

The Area and its People

• Chapters from Illinois Vignettes
• Physical Growth of the City of Saint Louis (1916)
• Hutchins, Thomas F. (Aug. 4, 1770)

- Letter describing settling in Kaskaskia, affairs with Fort Chartres, and the Indian trade
• Memorial of the Inhabitants of Randolph & St. Clair Counties (Jan. 17, 1808)
• Berrian, Sam G. (Mar. 26, 1818)

- Letter describing theWest and the opportunities it offers.
• Henry, John D. (Oct. 2, 1818)

- Letter expressing enthusiasm for American Bottom where he intends to buy land.
• Indenture - the Negroes Calep and Lucey (1815)
• Indenture - Thomas Estes (1820)
• Narrative of William Wells Brown, Fugitive Slave (1847)

Steamboats and River Transportation

• Commerce and Navigation (1847)
• Fitch's The First Steamboat Supported (1788)
• The Life of John Fitch (1857)
• Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi
• The Harry G. Dyer Diary (1881-1902)
• Bell and Whistle Signals of Mississippi River Rafting Steamboats (1941)
• Screw Propellors (1895)
• Robert Fulton (1913)
• J.L. Ringwalt's Early Transportation Systems (1888)

Entertainment

• Theater Programs