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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.

Van Valkenburgh, Robert B., 1821-1888 to Franklin Butler Van Valkenburgh

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06253.07 Author/Creator: Van Valkenburgh, Robert B., 1821-1888 Place Written: Bath, New York Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 5 December 1856 Pagination: 3 p. : Height: 25.2 cm, Width: 19.8 cm Order a Copy

A letter written to Franklin Butler Van Valkenburgh by brother Robert B. Van Valkenburgh. In this letter, Robert tells Franklin what it means to be a lawyer and the moral obligation he has to be honest with his clients. Robert also provides a list of books, with descriptions, that he believes would be useful to Franklin while he is practicing law. This letter is written on blue paper and has a note written in pencil at the top to the frist page that Franklin is a lawyer at the time this letter was written.

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