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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.

Washington, George, 1732-1799 to Oliver Pollock

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05454 Author/Creator: Washington, George, 1732-1799 Place Written: Mount Vernon, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 8 June 1788 Pagination: 2 p. ; 23.2 x 19.1 cm. Order a Copy

States that upon receiving Pollock's previous letter, he was engaged in a business meeting with the director of the Potomac Company at Shenandoah Falls, Virginia. Declines Pollock's request for recommendation to Esteban Rodriguez Miro y Sabater, the Governor of Louisiana. Declares that such a recommendation would be improper, stating "I have never had the Lever of a personal acquaintance ... with the Governor- I do not feel myself authorized to take a greater latitude of freedom in this respect than any other unknown private citizen."

Pollock, Oliver, 1737-1823
Washington, George, 1732-1799
Miró, Esteban, 1744-1795

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