Rarely Seen Hamilton Letters from the Gilder Lehrman Collection at the Morgan Library

Head over to the Morgan Library & Museum to view Treasures from the Vault, a selection of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s recently acquired letters by Alexander Hamilton, his family, and friends.

The exhibition includes the only known letter from Philip Hamilton to his father, Alexander Hamilton. Addressed to “Papa” when Philip was fifteen, the letter discusses school and family matters as well as Philip’s desire to become a “good man.”

The exhibition also features a 1781 love letter from Alexander Hamilton to his wife, Elizabeth. Separated from Eliza, and preparing to march south to Yorktown, Virginia, with Washington's troops, he wrote:

I was cherishing the melancholy pleasure of thinking of the sweets I had left behind and was so long to be deprived of, when a servant from Head Quarters presented me with your letters. I feasted for some time on the sweet effusions of tenderness they contained and my heart returned every sensation of yours—Alas my Betsey you have divested it of every other pretender and placed your image there as the sole proprietor.

The Morgan Library is open Tuesday to Sunday, and admission is free on Fridays, 7–9 p.m.