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.

Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) Half-plate ambrotype, Edgar County CH, Paris, Ill. with soldiers leaving for war

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04962 Author/Creator: Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) Place Written: [Paris, Ill.] Type: Photograph Date: 1862/04 Pagination: 1 cased photograph 12.5 x 15.5 cm Order a Copy

The image shows a wagon and a crowd of newly recruited soldiers preparing to leave for the Civil War. Lincoln practiced law at this court house (among others). The leather-covered case measures 12.5 x 15.5 cm; the image is roughly 10.8 x 14 cm.

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