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.

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848 to George N. Briggs

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00655.03 Author/Creator: Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848 Place Written: Quincy, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: September 24, 1842 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; Height: 26 cm, Width: 21 cm Order a Copy

John Quincy Adams declines an invitation to a Cattle Show and fair, citing age, and his inability to attend public functions, and previous engagements. He hopes to soon meet Briggs in Washington, D.C., "under better auspices than those which have overshadowed us since Captain Christopher Sly was installed at the white house," possibly referring to John Tyler. Briggs was a congressman from Massachusetts.

Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848
Briggs, George Nixon, 1796-1861
Tyler, John, 1790-1862

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