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.

Nott, Charles Cooper (1827-1916) to Ira H. Brainerd

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04471.07 Author/Creator: Nott, Charles Cooper (1827-1916) Place Written: Princeton, New Jersey Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 8 February 1907 Pagination: 4 p. 20 x 24.3 cm Order a Copy

Replies to Brainerd's request to sign some printings of Abraham Lincoln's address at the Cooper Institute 27 February 1860, and asks where he would like the signatures to be placed. Remarks that the reprint looks much like the original. Admires Brainerd for getting the printing done at no cost. States that he has heard from Ira Brainerd's father, Cephas Brainerd, who seems fine, but he wrote to Ira to get the truth as Cephas is always so optimistic. Asks him to send another copy of the printing as the cover was ripped on the one he received. Advises him to not put the "Explanatory Note" inside the cover as the cover is brittle and the note is heavier, which will cause the cover to rip. See GLC04177.02 for a signed copy of this printing.

Nott and Cephas Brainerd were members of the board of the New York Young Men's Republican Union, the group that invited Lincoln to speak at Cooper Institute in 1860 and later published his address. They both contributed historical and analytical notes to the published speech.

Nott, Charles Cooper, 1827-1916
Brainerd, Ira H., fl. 1907
Brainerd, Cephas, 1831-1910

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