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Posted by: Julie Miller
To gauge American sentiments at the start of the Revolutionary War, the British government ordered American letters opened, read, and copied at London’s post office. Today copies of those copies are at the Library of Congress.
Posted in: Early America, War and Society
Posted by: Julie Miller
The Library of Congress has just received a group of thirteen letters, mostly from Henry Clay to William Harris Crawford, six of which are unpublished. These document the work of the American commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812, and the subsequent commercial treaty signed with Britain.
Posted in: Early America, International History, Law, Letters, Politics, War and Society
Posted by: Julie Miller
A group of ships’ papers dispersed in the Manuscript Division’s Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection collectively tell a story about the port of Baltimore around the turn of the nineteenth century.
Posted in: Early America
Posted by: Julie Miller
On Thursday, July 17, at noon, the Library will host historian John Bidwell for a "Made at the Library" event to celebrate the recent publication of his book, The Declaration in Script and Print: A Visual History of America's Founding Document. Dr. Bidwell will discuss his book and the process of conducting research using the Library's collections.
Posted in: Early America, Events
Posted by: Julie Miller
In letters to her sister, Margaret Hunter Hall (1799-1876), wife of the popular British travel author Basil Hall (1788-1844), recorded her impressions of the United States during a trip the couple took in 1827-1828. These are available for research in the Margaret Hunter Hall Papers in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
Posted in: Early America, International History, Letters
Posted by: Julie Miller
Applications for federal jobs fill thirty-two volumes in the George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress. Each one tells a story.
Posted in: Digital Collections, Early America, Letters, Politics
Posted by: Julie Miller
The earliest surviving poem by Edgar Allan Poe is included in the Ellis & Allan Company Records in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
Posted in: Early America, Literature Culture & the Arts
Posted by: Julie Miller
The Christopher Columbus collection at the Library of Congress includes a rare and valuable copy from 1502 of a group of documents known collectively as the “Book of Privileges,” purchased by the Library in 1901. The larger collection also contains additional copies in various formats the Library acquired from the 1890s through the 1940s. Junior Fellow Molly Williams explores the history of these documents.
Posted in: Early America, Intern Spotlight, International History
Posted by: Julie Miller
Joseph Ball’s mid-eighteenth century letters, written from his home near London to his family in Virginia, helped maintain connections between Britain and the American colonies. They also show how the institution of slavery operated in the world where George Washington was born.
Posted in: African American History, Early America, Letters