This index to the Diplomatic Instructions of the Department of State, 1801-1906, collection provides the dates each reel covers. Government Information MAY NOT hold all of these reels. The record in the library catalog describes the extent of our holdings. For help, or to make an appointment to view a reel, email rad@colorado.edu
On the 175 rolls of this microcopy are reproduced 205 volumes and part of one volume, which consist chiefly of record copies of communications addressed by the Department of State to diplomatic and quasidiplomatic representatives of the United States assigned to service abroad, October 2, 1801 - August 14, 1906. The representatives include ambassadors, envoys, ministers of various ranks, charges d'affaires, secretaries of legation, special agents, consuls when vested with diplomatic responsibilities, and bearers of dispatches or special messengers.
Some of the communications give notice of appointments, convey information or inquiries, express approval or disapproval of proposals or actions, or merely transmit enclosures; but the greater number are instructions in the most definite and narrow sense. In the usage of the Department of State, however, the term "instructions" applies, by synecdoche, to all communications addressed by the Department to its officials assigned to service abroad; and the series of volumes here reproduced is therefore described as "Diplomatic Instructions." This intradepartmental designation has been established for more than a century, has long been employed in citing the records, and has the advantage of brevity.
The spreadsheet attached below contains a reel-by-reel description of the complete collection.