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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.

Nicolay, John G., 1832-1901 to Joseph B. Lemen

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC08926 Author/Creator: Nicolay, John G., 1832-1901 Place Written: Springfield, Illinois Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 8 September 1860 Pagination: 2 p. : envelope : stamp Height: 20 cm, Width: 13 cm Order a Copy

Writing on behalf of candidate Abraham Lincoln, he declines to answer the question Lemen mailed to him (and questions sent from individuals in general) because it would be too time consuming and "break faith with his friends, who nominated him with the expectation that he would let the people judge him by his past record."

Nicolay, John George, 1832-1901
Lemen, Joseph B., fl. 1860

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