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.

Abraham Lincoln, bust portrait from Calvin Jackson ambrotype. October 1, 1858.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05111.01.0631 Author/Creator: Place Written: [s.l.] Type: Photograph Date: 1858/10/01 Pagination: 1 photograph 18.4 x 23.5 cm Order a Copy

Pre-war picture of a young Lincoln. 20th century print of Calvin Jackson ambryotype. Inscription on accompanying frame backing reads: "Ambrotype by Calvin Jackson Pittsfield Ill. Oct 1st 1858." Additional inscription on frame tag: "M Rainsford Order 68 282."
See GLC 5111.01.0628--.0630, Meserve's letter to Rainsford and the photographs he made from Rainsford's photo of an ambrotype.

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