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.

Washington, George (1732-1799) to Henry Knox

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.09328 Author/Creator: Washington, George (1732-1799) Place Written: Mount Vernon, Virginia Type: Manuscript letter Date: 5 January 1785 Pagination: 4 p. ; 30.9 x 20.3 cm. Order a Copy

Later copy: "Copied from & composed with the original Feb'y 8 1854."
Discusses a headache as a result of various responsibilities and states that he will "employ some person who shall ease me of the drudgery of this business at any rate if the whole of it is thereby suspended..." Also discusses aspects of the Western Territory, trade and mutual friends.

Signer of the U.S. Constitution.

Washington, George, 1732-1799
Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

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