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.

Livingston, Peter Robert to Robert Livingston, Jr. re: application for assistance

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03107.03573 Author/Creator: Livingston, Peter Robert Place Written: Manor of Livingston, New York Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 1785/01/03 Pagination: 1p. + addr. 33.5 x 20.8 cm Order a Copy

Peter Robert writes that the sheriff will arrive tomorrow to arrest him if he does not pay an overdue debt to Mr. Robinson. He pleas with his father one last time to send up the money to settle the affair, and notes: "This has been an unfortunate affair as all this money & all the distress it has occasioned, is to pay a debt that has been of no use to me."

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