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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, Henry (1750-1806) [Certificate for Andrew Billings Esq. for engravings for two pieces of cannon]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.01746 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry (1750-1806) Place Written: s.l. Type: Manuscript document Date: 16 December 1782 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 25.2 x 20.7 cm. Order a Copy

Written and signed for Knox by Samuel Shaw, Knox's aide-de-camp. Writes, "This is to certify that, in consequence of orders from His Excellency the Commander in Chief, Andrew Billings Esq. has engraved certain devices upon two pieces of cannon ordered by Congress to be presented to the Count De Rochambeau, and that for the said service he charges forty guineas, or the value thereof, to the United States, which as far as I am competent to judge is just and reasonable - and that I have received the said cannon." See GLC02437.01733 for a related document.

Shaw, Samuel, 1754-1794
Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Washington, George, 1732-1799
Billings, Andrew, 1743-1808
Rochambeau, Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de, 1725-1807

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