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Category: A250

A color photograph of an open copy of the first volume of "The Federalist" next to a standing copy of the second volume.

How Eliza Hamilton’s copy of “The Federalist” wound up in Thomas Jefferson’s library

Posted by: Neely Tucker

The Library has two fascinating copies of “The Federalist,” the influential collection of newspaper essays that urged the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. These copies have deep personal ties to three Founding Fathers. One was owned by Elizabeth Hamilton, the wife of Alexander Hamilton (who wrote most of the 85 essays that composed the volume). She gave her copy to her sister, Angelica, who in turn gave it to Thomas Jefferson, her friend. Jefferson put it in his personal library, which became the foundation of the Library of Congress. The other copy belonged to James Madison, who wrote more than two dozen "Federalist" essays, and, like Jefferson, served as President of the new nation.

Posted in: A250, Alexander Hamilton, American Revolution, LCM, Manuscripts, Rare Book and Special Collections, Thomas Jefferson

Sepia-toned head and shoulders photo of an elderly man, dressed in a suit and tie, with white hair pulled back from his forehead.

Last Men of the (American) Revolution

Posted by: Mark Hartsell

In 1864, while America was in the depths of the Civil War, photographers Nelson and Roswell Moore set out to photograph what they believed were the last surviving men who had fought in the American Revolution. The men were all over 100 years old. The photographs spawned a popular book, "The Last Men of the Revolution," and the Library today preserves the photographs of those last survivors.

Posted in: A250, American Revolution, LCM, Prints and Photographs Division, Rare Book and Special Collections