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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.

Knox, William (1756-1795) to Lucy Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.01410 Author/Creator: Knox, William (1756-1795) Place Written: Nantes, France Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 6 May 1782 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; 22.5 x 18.9 cm. Order a Copy

Written by William Knox to his sister-in-law Lucy Knox. Inquires of her health and jokingly calls her newborn son [Marcus Camillus] "the little Roman Stranger." Goes on to say that "I have a good will to be offended that you did not think William a good name enough for him." Says he wrote to friends in England for news of the Fluckers, but has received no answer. Says he should have already been back in America, but that changes in politics has made him postpone his trip. Says his French has improved and that he has made better connections as well. Says he spent the winter in Paris and that "I had an opportunity of being a spectator of some of the most Brilliant amusements that had excited since the memory of the oldest Parisian. there were species of pleasures that could not but interest me in some degree my wish was to let them have their proper weight and nothing more." Part of docket is missing.

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