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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.

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806 to Andrew Billings

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.10046 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry, 1750-1806 Place Written: West Point, New York Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 24 September 1782 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; Height: 35.7 cm, Width: 23.2 cm Order a Copy

Asks Billings to engrave inscriptions on certain cannon as directed by Congress to be presented to the Count de Rochambeau. "As this is a matter in which the Reputation for Arts in the United States is in some degree concerned," instructs Billings to make the engravings as perfect as possible. Suggests Billings engrave the emblems of Justice and Liberty on some cannons, and representations of naval combat on others. Also suggests engraving "a bald head eagle the lately adopted Arms of the United States."

Knox, Henry, 1750-1806
Billings, Andrew, 1743-1808
Rochambeau, Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de, 1725-1807

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