Our Collection

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.

Lear, Tobias (1762-1816) to Henry Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.07316 Author/Creator: Lear, Tobias (1762-1816) Place Written: Boston, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter Date: 14 October 1799 Pagination: 4p. ; 22.5 x 18.7 cm. Order a Copy

Letter perhaps from Tobias Lear, who wishes to "vend at the City of Washington, Alexandria and their neighbourhood-a very large quantity of lime and lumber as such prices as to nett a handsome profit...and thereby enable the purchase of flour for return cargoes." This is expected to increase "Trade from the Potomak to the Eastward." Letter is incomplete and contains no signature.

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Lear, Tobias, 1762-1816

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