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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Lincoln, Mary Todd (1818-1882) to A. D. Worthington

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00782.15 Author/Creator: Lincoln, Mary Todd (1818-1882) Place Written: Chicago, Illinois Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 7 March 1868 Pagination: 4 p. : envelope ; 17 x 12 cm. Order a Copy

Refuses a request to help with a biography of her husband, Abraham Lincoln, citing poor health and the many false accounts already written about him. "So many pretentious persons, who were quite strangers to my husband & our household ... all claiming such intimate knowledge of the lamented President that I have been frequently startled with their varied & inaccurate accounts." Goes on to express that, "It will be impossible for me ... to subject myself to the annoyance of public clamor." Asks that their correspondence be kept private. Marked private on envelope and top of first page. Addressed to Worthington in Hartford, Connecticut.

Lincoln, Mary Todd, 1818-1882
Worthington, A. D., fl. 1868
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

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