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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.

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 [Patent for Edward West's improvement, being a machine for cutting and heading nails]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06238 Author/Creator: Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 Place Written: Washington, District of Columbia Type: Document signed Date: 6 July 1802 Pagination: 2 p. : Height: 36.1 cm, Width: 29.6 cm Order a Copy

Signed by Thomas Jefferson as President. Countersigned by James Madison as Secretary of State and Levi Lincoln as Attorney General. West's written description of his invention is signed by Andrew Holmes and Lewis Sanders as witnesses. Contains a paper seal and faded white ribbon. Several unattached ribbon scraps accompany this document.

Holmes, Andrew, fl. 1802
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826
Lincoln, Levi, 1749-1820
Madison, James, 1751-1836
Sanders, Lewis, fl. 1802
West, Edward, fl. 1802

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