18 December 1859

Wise, Henry A., 1806-1876

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Charles D. Meigs

Governor Wise responds to a letter from Meigs, a professor of obstetrics and diseases of women at the Jefferson Medical College (in Philadelphia). Arguing for unity between North and South, writes, "I eagerly grasp your hand, as Thomas Jefferson did Benjamin Franklin's at Carpenter's Hall on the 4th of July 1776." Claims Northerners "meddle with what is not their business." Writes, "I am a Union man- have been so ever. Mean to be so, forever. But if my honor is pricked in any Union I will burst its bonds... I mean to fight for the Union- never against it- but fight I will if it is…

GLC05854

4 June 1858

Ericsson, John, 1803-1889

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John B. Kitchen

Written by noted Swedish inventor Ericsson. Tells him to put off construction of the "Caloric boat." Regrets having to say this because he believes the engine would useful. Says he wants to test other large engines that are weaker before they continue on the potentially more powerful Caloric engine.

GLC05857

circa 4 July 1866

Pierce, Benjamin, 1809-1880

Autograph document signed

Title: Every star is itself a complete world, filled with the majesty of God.

A meditation on the divine order of the universe, followed by an Euler equation and a discussion on it: "this equation was discovered by a man, it governs all the stars, and is more comprehensive than the created universe."

GLC05858

1856

O'Callaghan, E.B., fl. 1856

Book

Title: Colonial History... Holland Documents, Vol. 1 [with fold-out maps]

One volume only. Printed by Weed, Parson and Co. Rebound. Three large facsimile maps (damaged by refolding) are housed separately.

GLC05859

18 July 1863

Broadside

Title: To the Laboring Men of New York.

Issued by "A Democratic Workingman." Civil War anti-draft riot broadside reminding potential rioters that all damages incurred during the riots are paid for with city money; that is, money out of their own pockets. Encourages New Yorkers to trust that unlawful policy will be settled in the highest courts.

GLC05864

1860

Object

Title: [Wide-awake election of 1860 campaign ribbon]

Republican campaign ribbon supporting Abraham Lincoln for President printed with "Wide Awake," and a large eye. Printed on white silk. Thousands of young men turned out in "Wide Awake" torchlight parades in support of Lincoln. The Wide Awakes are credited with helping Lincoln win the Republican presidential nomination at the Wigwam convention Hall in Chicago. Their stand against slavery helped bring the party to greater national attention.

GLC05865

1866

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Print

Title: Abraham Lincoln entering Richmond, April 3, 1865

Engraving by J. C. Buttre from a drawing by L. Hollis. Published by B.B. Russell & Co., Boston. Shows Lincoln with his son Tad on a visit to Richmond. African American men, women, and children are rejoicing around him.

GLC05866

20 June 1863

Early, Jubal Anderson, 1816-1894

Autograph endorsement signed

Title: to Robert H. Chilton

An extensive autograph endorsement signed 20 June 1863 by General Jubal A. Early, division commander, Army of Northern Virginia a division in Richard Ewell's II Corps, dismisses the request and says he deems it inadvisable to trouble Lee with Smith's message. Early writes "The suggestions of Genl Smith are not probably in accordance with the views of the commanding general... I do not deem it admirable to trouble him with this communication." Written on a manuscript letter signed dated 17 June 1863 by General William Smith to Chilton, Adjutant and Inspector General. Smith instructs…

GLC05867

4 December 1863

Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss, 1816-1894

Autograph quotation signed

Title: [Quotation by General Banks]

"The sweetest solace that a soldier can receive is to know that the women of his country appreciate his sacrifices, and surrender their hours of leisure and luxury to his care and comfort. The voice of Christian kindness and of love stirs the blood of a warrior like the sound of cannon."

GLC05869

January 19, 1780

Greene, Nathanael, 1742-1786

Letter signed

Title: to James Abeel

Circular letter written to Abeel, the Deputy Quartermaster General of the Continental Army, about changes in the quartermaster's department. Indicates that the arrangement of financial business by Congress makes it necessary for them (as well as the Treasury Board) to determine war costs. Orders Abeel to follow new, more stringent accounting standards involving the use of printed certificates to specify monies owed. Sends a copy of a congressional resolution (not included).

GLC05871

15 August 1865

Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893

Letter signed

Title: to William Martin Dickson

Butler, a Union General and Radical Republican, discusses Jacob Dolson Cox's views on creating separate states for former slaves. Informs Dickson, a Republican judge and political figure in Ohio, that "The supposition that the negro can be segregated on a given portion of this country apart from the white man in a separate community occupying a part of our Sea Board, whether as a dependency or an independency, to say nothing of constitutional objections is simply absurd ..." Discusses pride of race, the failings of Native American reservations in Georgia, and the views of Clement Laird…

GLC05872

circa 1860

Moore, Thomas, 1779-1852

Broadside

Title: The minstrel boy

Sheet music, including music and lyrics for two verses of the song "The Minstrel Boy." Printed in Baltimore for J. Carr.

GLC05874

1960

Dangerfield, George, 1904-1986

Book

Title: Chancellor Robert R. Livingston of New York

Published by Harcourt, Brace & Co.

GLC05875

1856

Object

Title: [Campaign ribbon on silk: "Old buck is coming"]

Faded pink silk ribbon with black ink images and text. Begins with an image of a buck (male dear), and the statement "Old Buck is Coming," referring to 1856 presidential candidate James Buchanan. Below the buck, the ribbon depicts blacks with knapsacks and a bear, apparently fleeing westward, with the exclamation "Fremont! Free Niggers! Off for the Rocky Mountains" (Buchanan's opponent, Senator John C. Fremont, argued that the government should prevent the spread of slavery into the new western territories). The next image on the ribbon portrays a pistol, and the exclamation "'National…

GLC05877

17 March 1777

Whipple, William, 1730-1785

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Josiah Bartlett

Discusses Continental troop movements, specifically regarding Fort Ticonderoga and New Jersey. Also, rising cost of living and collapsing currency, taxation, Franklin's reception at Versailles, and New Hampshire politics.

GLC05878

1963

Howard, Warren S., fl. 1963

Book

Title: American Slavers and the Federal Law: 1837-1862

Published by University of California Press. Discusses the illegal slave trade violated "mostly by Americans helping foreigners to carry slaves into Cuba or Brazil... also by Americans smuggling slaves into the states of the deep South."

GLC05879

1802

Book

Title: Debates in the Congress of the United States [to repeal court reorganization]

[Full title] Debates in the Congress of the United States, on the Bill for Repealing the Law for the more Convenient Organization of the Courts by the U. S..... Printed by Collier & Stockwell.

GLC05880

1787

Hanson, A.C., fl. 1787

Book

Title: Laws of Maryland, made since 1763... .

Large folio, unpaginated. Reverse leather binding. Printed by Frederick Green.

GLC05881

1741

Middleton, Conyers, fl. 1741

Header Record

Title: The History of the Life of Marcus Tullius Cicero [2 vols.]

Two volumes, printed for the author. Collateral to GLC 747, John Adams to Rush, 1805 December 4, which attacks Hamilton as another Caesar while citing this life and "Tull's memoirs."

GLC05882

1790

Prison reform

Pamphlet

Title: Extracts and Remarks on the subject of punishment and reformation of criminals

Printed by Zachariah Poulson. Published by order of the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons.

GLC05883

1795

Wythe, George, 1726-1806

Book

Title: Decisions of cases in Virginia by the High Court of Chancery, with remarks upon decrees by the Court of Appeals, reversing some of those decisions.

Wythe's name is handwritten on title page as Chancellor of Virginia. Signed on inner front cover by James M. Whittle. Signed on title page by James Henry, 1795 (possibly the Virginia delegate to Continental Congress in 1780). Includes a multitude of cases. One page 132, contains a case alleging that the British government has not recompensated Virginia residents adequately, after stealing enslaved people. Richmond: printed by Thomas Nicolson

GLC05884

1861

Halleck, H.W. (Henry Wager), 1815-1872

Book

Title: International law, or, Rules regulating the intercourse of states in peace and war

Published by H.H. Bancroft & Co. Said to have been one of the most comprehensive treatises on the subject by an American. Written by General Halleck while he worked as an attorney. No index. Has a printed note after the preface indicating the Halleck was unable to see the book through press due to a change of circumstances, referring to the outbreak of the Civil War, for which Halleck was commissioned a Major-General in the United States Army on 17 August 1861.

GLC05885

circa 1762-1767

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826

Autograph manuscript

Title: [Annotated manuscript copy of the 1732 acts of Parliament]

Jefferson's handwritten copy of a manuscript with notes entitled, "Anno quinto G[eorge]. II 1732. Cap. VII, An act for the more easy recovery of debts in his majesty's plantations and colonies in America." Establishes a law to coordinate debtors' laws throughout the colonies in order to facilitate British creditors' collection of debts. The act subjects all colonial debtors' property to the claims of his British creditor. With separate blank sheet of paper.

GLC05886

circa 1862-1863

Bumm, Harry, fl. 1862-1863

Broadside

Title: Democratic Creed!

National Union illustrated election broadside. "Democratic Creed! Love Creed! Love for Civilization and Niggers!... Worship of Southern aristocracy! Sneer for Northern Mechanics." An anti-slavery and anti-Democrat broadside for National Union candidate Harry Bumm. Appeals to the working class. Indirectly refers to the competition for jobs by freed Black labor in the North. The broadside quotes a supposed letter from Bumm's opponent for Philadelphia city treasurer, John Brodhead, to Jefferson Davis. Brodhead is said to have Southern sympathies and favor the institution of slavery over…

GLC05889

3 April 1865 after

Broadside

Title: Victory! Victory!! Victory!!! We celebrate the fall of Richmond April 3d, 1865.

Shows a triumphant elephant waving victory banner. Text printed in red with the elephant in blue. The end of the banner is drawn to look like a grinning face.

GLC05890