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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.

Troutbeck, John (fl. 1755-1784) to Henry Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.03030 Author/Creator: Troutbeck, John (fl. 1755-1784) Place Written: London, England Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 21 July 1784 Pagination: 2 p. ; 22.7 x 18.2 cm. Order a Copy

Expresses his feelings of friendship to Knox: "An age of absence can never obliterate from the Mind, Friendship, which has once been formerly rooted; from that principal I seek no apology for addressing this to my Old & much esteem'd Friend; who, after the fatigues of War, I shou'd be as happy to shake by the Hand, as any Man I know under the Sun." Refers to having sailed to almost every part of the globe. Mentions a set of mugs he bought for Knox in Canton, China (present-day Guangzhou), one of which has since broken. Had a drawn sword and the motto "Pro Libertate" painted on the mugs. Possibly written by Reverend John Troutbeck, a Loyalist who left America in 1776.

Troutbeck, John, fl. 1755-1784
Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

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