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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.

Van Valkenburgh, Franklin Butler, 1835-1924 [Framed daguerreotype portrait of Franklin Butler Van Valkenburgh]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00686.33 Author/Creator: Van Valkenburgh, Franklin Butler, 1835-1924 Place Written: s.l. Type: Photograph Date: 15 November 1854 Pagination: 1 daguerreotype Height: 7.5 cm, Width: 6 cm Order a Copy

1/9th plate daguerreotype of clean-shaven man. Date from seller, who found date behind frame. In brown case with elaborate scroll-work with gilt edges and red interior. On the paper lining of the recessed case bed are two pencil inscriptions, one much heavier and possibly later than the other. The later one reads: "Nov 15 / taken at / Bath 1854" while the former is very faint and only the date "Nov 15th / 1854" can be deciphered.

Van Valkenburgh, Gerrit, fl. 1850-1905

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