Company Historical Research

Course of the Exchange

Offers stock and commodity prices at the London Stock Exchange starting from 1689.  The years 1689-1908 are available at History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library in the form of microfilm.

Directory of Obsolete Securities

Call Number: Q. 332.632044 D598

Reference Library (Most recent volume)
Main Stacks (1999-present)

Lists banks and companies that no longer issue stocks as results of bankruptcy, M&A, or dissolution.

Robert D. Fisher Manual of Valuable and Worthless Securities

Call Number: FILM 338.7 M369

Oak Street Facility (v.1-12, by request only)

Resource to trace back the value of old stock certificates.

International Directory of Company Histories

This multi-volume work, first published in 1988, is the first major reference to bring together histories of companies that are a leading influence in a particular industry or geographic location. Each three- to five-page entry is meticulously detailed with facts gathered from popular magazines, academic periodicals, books, annual reports and the archives of the companies themselves. Entries provide information on founders, expansions and losses, labor/management actions, NAIC codes, key dates, ticker symbol, principal subsidiaries, principal divisions, principal operating units, principal competitors and other significant milestones -- all peppered with statistics, dates and names of key players.

Notable Corporate Chronologies

Call Number: Q. 338.7409 N843

Oak Street Facility (by request only)

Provides significant events and dates for more than 1,800 companies. Information is accessible alphabetically by company name or in "Chronology Highlights" which provides an list of significant event by year.

The SEC's EDGAR  (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval) database is where S-1 filings are kept. However, their electronic vault only dates back to 1996, so S-1s prior to 1996 are not available via EDGAR. There are a few options for obtaining filings prior to 1996.

• SEC FOIA Archives: Under the Freedom Of Information Act, government agencies are required to provide public documents, filings, and correspondence to individuals who request them. Request from the SEC a filing prior to 1996, and they will find the paper document to scan and send to you. As of writing (11/12/2025), the government is shut down and replies from federal agencies may be indefinitely delayed. 

Grainger Engineering Library Information Center's STEM Entrepreneurship & Business Services can assist you in getting started with these and other resources.  If you have any questions, please e-mail bis@library.illinois.edu.