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.

Unknown Green-Back to his Country Friends.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05772 Author/Creator: Unknown Place Written: New York, New York Type: Pamphlet Date: 20 June 1862 Pagination: 17 p. ; 22.8 x 14 cm. Order a Copy

Addressed to the constituents of the 37th Congress and signed by "Green-back." Concerns the issuance of paper money during the Civil War. First edition in original bright green wrapper, as issued. Signature of John R. Bartlett on cover. (Possibly John Russell Bartlett, the former boundary commissioner, explorer, author and ethnographer; he served as Rhode Island's secretary of state from 1855-1872.)

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