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.

Ambrotype and tintype photographs, mostly portraits [decimalized]

High-resolution images are available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription. Or click here for more information. You may also order a pdf of the image from us here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05131 Author/Creator: Place Written: [various places] Type: Photograph Date: 1861-1865 ca. Pagination: 33 photographs Order a Copy

Chiefly Civil War era portraits by anonymous American photographers. Subjects include W. T. Sherman and U. S. Grant. The collection is organized according to size, from largest to smallest. Rare and important images include #2 (family portrait), #14 (identified soldier from 15th Mass. Vols.), #16 (79th N.Y. "Highlander"), #24 (civilian man), #26 (Sherman with one star), #29 (identified sailor), and #30 (Grant with one star).

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