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.

Norton, Joshua Abraham (1819-1880) [Two items relating to Joshua Abraham Norton, self-proclaimed emperor of the United States] [Decimalized]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02729 Author/Creator: Norton, Joshua Abraham (1819-1880) Place Written: San Francisco, California Type: Header Record Date: circa 1878 Pagination: 2 items Order a Copy

Joshua Norton was an Englishman who came to America during the California Gold Rush of 1849 and proclaimed himself emperor of the United States. Mark Twain is said to have modeled the character of Huck Finn on Norton.

Norton, Joshua Abraham, 1819-1880

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