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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.

Brown, John (1800-1859) to Thomas B. Musgrave re: imprisonment

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC07638.01 Author/Creator: Brown, John (1800-1859) Place Written: Charlestown, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 1859/11/17 Pagination: 1 p. 25 x 19.6 cm Order a Copy

"I do not feel myself the least degraded by my imprisonment, my chain, or the near prospect of the gallows. Men cannot imprison, or chain, or hang the soul." With engraving, photograph, and collateral paperwork. Per Lee Shepard, Asst. Director for Manuscript and Archives at the Virginia Historical Society, the recipient of John Brown's letter is Thomas B. Musgrave rather than "F.B." Musgrave. Shepard writes (May 2001) that Musgrave "is identified as the son of a New England merchant and industrialist with whom Brown had dealings earlier in his life."

Brown, John, 1800-1859

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