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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.

Tuttle, John L. (fl. 1806) to Joseph Bradley Varnum

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03845.06 Author/Creator: Tuttle, John L. (fl. 1806) Place Written: Concord, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 3 March 1806 Pagination: 2 p. : address : docket ; 17.7 x 15 cm. Order a Copy

Informs Massachusetts Representative Varnum of Charles Hammond's invention of a quadrant used frequently and successfully by Hammond's military company. States that upon the advice of General Henry Knox and others, Hammond applied for a patent. Reports that "Hammond's quadrant imbraces such a combination of mathematical principles, so applyed to practical use, as to merit the attention and patronage of Government." Requests that Varnum examine Hammond's design, and instructs Varnum to inform Secretary of State James Madison that Hammond will promptly send a complete model.

Varnum, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradley), 1751-1821
Tuttle, John L., fl. 1806
Hammond, Charles, fl. 1806
Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Madison, James, 1751-1836

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