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.

Watson, Brook, 1735-1807 to Joshua Mauger

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03902.017 Author/Creator: Watson, Brook, 1735-1807 Place Written: London, England Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 15 October 1774 Pagination: 3 p. : address : docket ; 23.5 x 19 cm. Order a Copy

Mauger has been re-elected to parliament for Poole. Watson impatiently awaits a ship from Boston but fears it will bring bad news. ". . .this Country have [sic] enacted Laws they cannot enforce and the Americans have Advanced too far to retreat. The event will prove the Colonies a much [crossed out: freeer] more Independent people than we would willingly allow them to be."

Watson, Brook, 1735-1807
Mauger, Joshua, 1725-1788
Halifax, George Montagu-Dunk, Earl of, 1716-1771
Grenville, George, 1712-1770
Sandwich, John Montagu, 4th Earl of, 1718-1792
Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 1708-1778

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