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.

Guiteau, Charles, 1841-1882 My Case [poem]

Order a pdf of this item here.

A high-resolution version of this object is available for registered users. LOG IN

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06319 Author/Creator: Guiteau, Charles, 1841-1882 Place Written: Washington, District of Columbia Type: Autograph manuscript signed Date: 1882/06/01 Pagination: 6 p. : Height: 32.4 cm, Width: 19.5 cm Order a Copy

Faded ink. "For Saturday's Star." A poem justifying his assassination of President Garfield. "I executed / the Divine command. And Garfield did remove / to save my party / and my country / from the bitter fate of war...." The fifth page has had a slip of paper attached to lower third of page, adding six lines of poetry. (Some staining from the glue used.)

Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources