Item Details Content statement Language English PID nyhs:treasures NYHS Identifier Library Collection Language eng Member of New-York Historical Society Digital Collections Genre archives (groupings) broadsides (notices) drawings (visual works) ephemera (general object genre) manuscripts (documents) maps (documents) newspapers photographs printed ephemera prints (visual works) rare books views (visual works) Owning Institution New-York Historical Society Publisher New-York Historical Society Type Text Subject (Topical) Libraries--New York (State)--New York--Archives Subject (Name) New-York Historical Society. Library--Archives Contributor New-York Historical Society. Library Date Created 1600 to 1950
Image Text 2 Items In Congress, July 4, 1776. : A declaration by the representatives of the United States of America, in general Congress assembled. The Hugh Gaine printing of the Declaration of Independence. "Signed by order and in behalf of the Congress- John Hancock- president. Attest. Charles Thomson- secretary." Watermark: Strassburg bend and lily over "GR." New-York Historical copy presented by Lucius Wilmerding. Cf. NYHS Quarterly 32 (1948). References: Bristol B4403; Shipton & Mooney- 43203; Walsh- M.J. "Contemporary Broadside Editions of the Declaration of Independence." Harvard Library Bulletin 3 (1949): 31-43- 4. View Item
Image Text 2 Items In Congress, July 4, 1776. : A declaration by the representatives of the United States of America, in general Congress assembled. The Declaration of Independence- place of publication and printer unknown. "Signed by order and in behalf of the Congress- John Hancock- president. Attest. Charles Thomson- sec'ry." Text printed in two columns- 70 lines in first. Watermark: A Rogge. References: Bristol B4404; Shipton & Mooney- 43196; Walsh- M.J. "Contemporary Broadside Editions of the Declaration of Independence." Harvard Library Bulletin 3 (1949): 31-43- 5. View Item
Text By His Excellency George Washinton [sic], Esquire, general, and commander in chief of the army of the United States of North-America. : Whereas a bombardment and attack upon the city of New-York ... may be hourly expected: and as there are great numbers o Signed and dated: Given under my hand- at head-quarters- New-York- August 17- 1776. George Washington. References: Evans- 15153. View Item
Text Proclamation. The number of fires which have appeared at the same time at very distant parts, : and other circumstances, afford too fatal a proof of an intention to destroy this city ... require every householder to send me a list of the number and names Signed: James Robertson- m. gen. Commanding in New-York. Mortized initial- type ornament rule. The initial and address are of Hugh Gaine- who was in Newark at this time. His press in New York was not supervised by Ambrose Serle until Sept. 30. Cf. Ford. Watermark (cropped): IV. New-York Historical copy with holograph note: Dear Sir- I have sent you three new papers the latest I could get in this city. Yours to [lent?] Gibbs Atkins. To Capt. Gay. References: Reilly- E.C. Colonial printers' ornaments 367; Ford- P.L. Journals of Hugh Gaine- p. 56-57. View Item
Text Postscript to the Freeman's journal, Oct. 24. : How are the mighty fallen! Wednesday evening, Oct. 24. This morning arrived in town col. Tilghman, aid de camp to His Excellency general Washington; by whom we have the following official account of the surr The Freeman's journal was printed in Philadelphia by Francis Bailey. Includes Washington's letter to Congress- dated 19th Oct.- 1781- followed by the correspondence between Washington and Cornwallis- dated 17-18th Oct.- and "Articles of capitulation ... Done at York in Virginia- this 19th day of October- 1781. Cornwallis. Thomas Symonds. Published by order of Congress- Charles Thomson- sec." Advertisement for John Oldden's store- Second Street- Philadelphia- at end. New-York Historical copy damaged along creases- slightly affecting text and illustration. View Item
Text Boston, 26th of June, 1775. : This town was alarmed on the 17th instant at break of day, by a firing from the Lively ship of war; and a report was immediately spread that the rebels had broke ground, and were raising a battery on the heights of the penins This broadside contains the first printed account of the Battle of Bunker Hill. It was evidently written immediately after the famous engagement by British officers who greatly underestimated English losses and exaggerated the strength of the American forces. Imprint supplied by Evans. References: Evans 13842; Ford- W.C. Broadsides- 1801; ESTC W9549. View Item
Text New-York, Sunday 23d April, 1775. The following interesting advices, were this day received here, : by two vessels from Newport, and by an express by land The first news to reach New York concerning the battles at Lexington and Concord. References: Evans 14337. View Item
Text To the publick. New-York, October 5, 1774. : By Mr. Rivere [i.e. Revere], who left Boston on Friday last ... we have certain intelligence that the carpenters and masons who had inadvertently undertaken to erect barracks for the soldiers in that town ... u Broadside announcing Paul Revere's ride through New York and encouraging the mechanics of New York not to participate in the construction of barracks for the British soldiery. References: Evans 13674. View Item
Image Text 13 Items Illustrations of cholera asphyxia; in its different stages Selected from cases treated at the Cholera Hospital, Rivington Street. / By Horatio Bartley, apothecary and chymist [sic] Lithographic illustrations of cholera victims, annotated in pencil with the outcome of their illness. New-York Historical copy signed on the title page: Dr. S.L. Howell. Annotated by Dr. Howell. The lithographs are hand colored. View Item
Image Text 6 Items The Federalist: : a collection of essays, written in favour of the new Constitution, as agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787. : In two volumes. : Vol. I[-II] Title page, introduction, table of contents, and first page of John Pintard's copy of the first complete edition of the Federalist published in book form. The Federalist is included on nearly every list of influential books because it is due, at least in part, to this work that the United States Constitution was ratified. Its 85 essays were first published in newspapers and then issued in two volumes. Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. Each essay signed: Publius. View Item
Image Text 31 Items Alexander Anderson, A medical grammar, circa 1795 Alexander Anderson was a New York City physician and illustrator. He was the first physician at Bellevue Hospital, established in 1795 to treat patients in a yellow fever epidemic, but he is best known as one of the first American wood engravers. This is a manuscript with three pen and ink drawings done by Dr. Anderson when he was 20 years old, relating to his medical practice and his interest in engraving. View Item
Image Text 12 Items George Mason, Amendments to the new constitution of government, June 9, 1788 View Item
Image Text 7 Items The deceiver unmasked; or, Loyalty and interest united: : in answer to a pamphlet entitled Common sense. / By a loyal American Title page and preface of a rebuttal to Thomas Paine's Common sense by a New York loyalist clergyman. Before it could be distributed, the printer's stock was burned by a mob; a notation on this copy says it was salvaged from the fire. Also published in Philadelphia under the title: The true interest of America impartially stated. Preface dated: February 16, 1776. Type ornament head and tail-pieces. Signatures: A-G⁶ H² (H2 verso blank). References: Bristol 4238; Adams, T. R. Amer. pamphlets, 219a; ESTC W8906. View Item
Image Text 2 Items Philip Van Cortlandt's Second New York Regiment of 1777 orderly books, 1779-1783, undated. Orderly book for September 26-October 30, 1781, cover and paste-down endpaper Cover and paste-down endpaper of orderly book for September 26-October 30, 1781 kept by Barnardus Swartwout Jr., bound in canvas painted with the monogram of George III and part of the Roman numeral LXXX, indicating it previously belonged to the British 80th Regiment. The words "America to you is lost" are painted underneath; a note inside the front cover reads "Captured Lord Cornwallis & the cover of this book." The 2nd New York Regiment, under the command of Colonel Philip Van Cortlandt, was organized in late 1776 and discharged in November 1783. View Item
Image Text 4 Items We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, Caption title. William Livingston's copy of the second draft of the United States Constitution, with his manuscript annotations showing changes that appear in the final version. William Livingston was Governor of New Jersey from 1776 to 1790. He joined the New Jersey Delegation to the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, and was one of the signers of the Constitution. View Item
Image Text 7 Items Rufus King, First report of the Committee of the Whole Convention, 1787 Rufus King's notes of the closed proceedings of the Constitutional Convention are the only record, other than a much later version by his friend James Madison, of arguments brought to the convention floor. View Item
Image Text 45 Items John Winthrop's A modell of Christian charity, written on boarde the Arrabella, on the Attlantick Ocean, 1630 Manuscript copy, probably contemporary, of John Winthrop's sermon 'A Modell of Christian Charity,' 1630. Gift of Francis B. Winthrop, 1809. View Item
Image Text 5 Items Petition of 547 loyalists from New York City, November 28, 1776 Also known as the "Loyalist declaration of dependence", this was the second petition addressed to the Royal Commissioners Richard and William Howe from loyalists seeking special protection under British occupation. Their first petition, for the suspension of martial law, went unanswered; in this second, insisting that they had risked their lives and fortunes opposing "the most unnatural, unprovoked rebellion, that ever disgraced the annals of time", the loyalists sought only "some level of distinction" from the "inhabitants in general". View Item
Image Text 8 Items John Jay's In relation to foreign nations, circa 1788 Draft in John Jay's hand of Federalist Number 64, originally published on March 5, 1788 in the Independent Journal. It bore the number 63 in the newspaper version, but was renumbered 64 in the first collected edition, published 22 March 1788. Comparison with the published version shows little change in the substance of the argument for the constitutional provisions for senatorial approval of treaties. Changes in organization and wording are substantial. View Item
Image Text 2 Items Letter to suffragist Eleanor C. Erving from her niece Bertie, April 4, 1911 Letter requests a "votes for women" pin, with the "sufferage [sic] colors". View Item
Image Text 2 Items Ulysses S. Grant letter to Robert E. Lee, Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865 The terms of surrender of General Robert E. Lee's army at Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865. One of the original impressions from the manifold on which General U.S. Grant wrote the terms of surrender, with interlinear revisions by Ely S. Parker, a Tonawanda Seneca man who had been Grant's military secretary since 1863. Parker's inscription below reads: "The above is an original in Gen. Grant's own handwriting of the terms of surrender given by him to Gen. Lee at Appomattox Court House. View Item
Image Text 3 Items [Tracy's bootleg liquor price list, between 1920 and 1933] One of a collection of twelve price lists for bootleg liquor and two business cards issued by liquor dealers who operated in New York City during Prohibition. The other price lists in this collection will be digitized in full at a future date. The 18th Amendment instituting national Prohibition went into effect Jan. 17, 1920, and was in force until it was repealed with the ratification of the 21st Amendment on Dec. 5, 1933. View Item
Image Still Image 20 Items The Hudson River port folio Plates from the Hudson River Portfolio, circa 1828. Title from cover. Engraved by John Hill and J.R. Smith from the watercolors of William G. Wall. View Item
Image Text 4 Items Clara Harris letter to Mary, 1865 April 25 Autograph letter, signed, from Clara Harris, daughter of a U.S. Senator from New York, Ira Harris, and fiancée of Henry Reed Rathbone, to Mary, dated Washington, April 25th, 1865. Clara Harris, with Rathbone, accompanied Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to the theater on the night of April 14th, 1865, and was witness to the assassination of the President. The letter is a description of the events of that night, the grieving of the widowed First Lady, and the healing of Rathbone's stab wound. View Item
Image Text 2 Items The Revolution, 1868 The front pages of the first two issues of The Revolution, a newspaper established by women's rights activists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The entire run of the newspaper has been digitized by Lewis & Clark College and is available on their website at http://digitalcollections.lclark.edu/items/browse?collection=21&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate. "The Organ of the National Party of New America." Editors: Jan. 1868-May 1870, Elizabeth C. Stanton (with Parker Pillsbury, Jan. 1868-July 1, 1869); June 1870-Oct. 1871, Laura C. Bullard; Oct. 1871-Feb. 1872, W.T. Clarke. View Item
Image Text 4 Items George Washington plan to recapture New York, June or July 1781 This rough draft, in George Washington's own handwriting, is addressed to General Henry Knox, his artillery commander, and dates from June or July, 1781. Washington realized that driving the British out of New York City would be the only way to end the Revolutionary War. The plan was "to surprise the Enemy's Post at the North end of York Island", the northern end of Manhattan, and fight his way down to the city, routing the British army. The plan was never realized and the British stayed in New York City until peace was declared in 1783. View Item
Image Still Image 5 Items [A south prospect of ye flourishing city of New York in the province of New York in America, circa 1719-1721] The earliest panoramic view of the East River and New York City, called "The Burgis View". Engraving from four plates on four sheets, issued circa 1719-1721. Drawn by William Burgis in 1717 from what is now known as Brooklyn Heights, and engraved in London by John Harris. Dedication reads: "To His Excellency Robert Hunter Esqr. View Item
Image Text 2 Items George Washington letter to John Mitchell, Newburgh, November 5, 1782 George Washington letter to John Mitchell ordering "a pair of the neatest & best Leather Breeches". Letter transcription: Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-09880. View Item
Image Text 2 Items The New-York weekly journal, containing the freshest advices, foreign and domestick, Munday, September 23d, 1734 John Peter Zenger was a printer and journalist who produced a newspaper, the New-York Weekly Journal, that was critical of the colonial governor of New York, William Cosby. Cosby accused Zenger of libel and Zenger was tried and acquitted in 1735. His acquittal is considered an important step toward freedom of the press in North America. View Item
Image Text 2 Items The daily citizen, Vicksburg, Miss., July 2 and July 4, 1863 Newspaper printed on the back of wallpaper because of shortages in the Confederacy. Sometimes published as: Vicksburg daily citizen. Began in 1859. Ceased in 1864. Issues for June 18-July 4, 1863 printed on wallpaper. View Item
Image Text 2 Items Gilbert Stuart letter to Benjamin West, circa 1776 Dated Monday evening, No. 30 Grace Church St. There are sketches on the letter's interior pages. Gilbert Stuart conveys his destitution and his hopes that Benjamin West can assist him. Stuart writes: "Should Mr. West in his abundant kindness think of ought for me I shall esteem it an obligation which shall bind me forever with gratitude." Gilbert Stuart was, literally, a starving artist, writing to Benjamin West for help. View Item
Image Text 2 Items (No stamped paper to be had.) : Boston, Oct. 28. We hear from Halifax in the province of Nova-Scotia, that on Sunday the 13th inst. in the morning, were discovered hanging on the gallows behind the Citadel-Hill, the effigies of a stampman … Hugh Gaine's Nov. 4, 1765, issue, no. 732, of the New York Mercury, published as a broadside to evade the stamp tax. Issues nos. 732-734 of the New-York Mercury, were printed by Hugh Gaine without number, masthead, or imprint. Upon the inception of the Stamp Act which required that newspapers be printed on imported, stamped paper, Gaine suspended the regular heading of his newspaper. By issuing sheets without the characteristic appearance of a newspaper, he was able to satisfy the subscribers while protecting the firm from legal repercussions. View Item
Image Text 4 Items [Application seeking federal aid to construct the Erie Canal], 8 Oct. 1811 Original printed and signed application addressed to David Holmes, governor of the Mississippi Territory, and accompanying manuscript exemplification addressed to President James Madison seeking federal aid for construction of the Erie Canal; both are dated 8 Oct. 1811 and signed by Canal Commissioners Gouverneur Morris, DeWitt Clinton, Simeon DeWitt, William North, Thomas Eddy, Robert R. Livingston, and Robert Fulton. Included are engravings of full length portraits of Morris, Clinton, Livingston, and Fulton. View Item
Image Text 3 Items A visit from St. Nicholas, Clement C. Moore, 1862 March 13th, originally written many years ago Holograph manuscript, dated March 13, 1862, of Clement C. Moore's famous Christmas poem "A visit from St. Nicholas," originally composed around 1822 and written out by the author on this occasion at the suggestion of New-York Historical librarian George H. Moore, who wished to add a holograph copy of the poem to the library collection. The three page manuscript is accompanied by a cover letter addressed to George Moore by Thomas W.C. Moore, presenting the enclosed manuscript and briefly discussing the circumstances of the poem's original composition forty years earlier. View Item
Image Text 2 Items Sir William Johnson testimonial granting Native Americans ally status with Britain, New York, 1770 William Johnson was Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Colonies. The engraving is attributed to Henry Dawkins. View Item
Image Text 2 Items Proposed Lower Manhattan crosstown expressway Selections from "Proposed Lower Manhattan crosstown expressway", issued by the Office of the Construction Co-ordinator, New York, 1946. The Lower Manhattan Expressway, an extension of I-78 from the Holland Tunnel to the Williamsburg Bridge that would have torn through the neighborhoods of SoHo, Little Italy, and the Lower East Side and displaced countless families and businesses, was originally proposed in 1941 and approved by the City Planning Commission in 1960. It was never built, thanks to opposition by neighborhood activists led by Jane Jacobs. View Item
Image Text 4 Items Francis Lovelace deed for the purchase of Staten Island from the Native Americans on behalf of the Duke of York, April 13, 1670 View Item
Image Still Image 2 Items A new and correct map of North America, with the West India islands, divided according to the preliminary articles of peace, signed at Versailles, 20 Jan. 1783, wherein are particularly distinguished the United States, & the several provinces and colonies New state of 1779 issue showing 1783 boundaries and with changes to the title but retaining the 1779 date in imprint; The map includes articles 4, 5, 7, 9, 17, 18, and 20 of the Treaty of Versailles View Item
Still Image Caesar, an enslaved man, 1851 Daguerreotype. Portrait of an African-American male figure, three quarters-length, front view, holding a staff or a shovel (?) in his right hand, wearing a white collar, dark foulard, and checked waistcoat. A note taped to the back of the case identifies the sitter and sitter's history: "born a slave of Van R. Nicoll, son of William, in 1737 at Bethlehem, N.Y., where he died in 1852, the last slave to die in the North." View Item
Text Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a northern slave : emancipated from bodily servitude by the state of New York, in 1828 … Frontispiece portrait of Sojourner Truth from the New York, 1853 edition of her published memoir. Johns Hopkins University Sheridan Libraries has digitized its copy of this book and made it available via the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/narrativeofsojour00gilb. New-York Historical copy has imprint date on cover: 1855. View Item
Text Freedom's journal, Vol. I, No. 3, New-York, Friday, March 30, 1827 First page of Vol. I, no. 3 (March 30, 1827) of the first newspaper published by African Americans in the United States. Weekly. Published: Vol. 1, no. 1 (March 16, 1827)-v. 2, no. 27 (September 26, 1828) ; v. 2, whole no. 80 (October 3, 1828)-v. 2, whole no. 104 (March 28, 1829). Issues for April 11, 1828-September 26, 1828 called also whole no. 55-whole no. 79. New-York Historical holds scattered issues. View Item
Text An address to the inhabitants of the British settlements in America, upon slave-keeping Title page of an early appeal against slavery by a signer of the Declaration of Independence and noted physician. The pamphlet will be digitized in full at a future date. Published anonymously. Rush acknowledged authorship in the preface to his Essays, 1798. Signatures: [A]⁴ B-D⁴. References: Evans 12990; Sabin 74202; ESTC W5139. View Item
Text Men of color, to arms! : a call by Frederick Douglass In this broadside, African American statesman Frederick Douglass urges Black men to fight for the Union and enlist in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. Signed at end: Frederick Douglass, Rochester, March 2, 1863. View Item
Still Image Sojourner Truth, I sell the shadow to support the substance Carte de visite photograph of the antislavery activist, feminist, and social reformer Sojourner Truth. The "shadow" refers to her photographic image, which she sold to raise money for her various progressive causes. View Item
Text An evening thought. : Salvation by Christ, with penetential cries: / composed by Jupiter Hammon, a Negro belonging to Mr Lloyd, of Queen's-Village, on Long-Island, the 25th of December, 1760 The first poem published by an African American in North America. Verse of eighty-eight lines; first line: Salvation comes by Jesus Christ alone. View Item
Text By the president of the United States. A proclamation. … That on the first day of January ... one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves ... shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free ... Souvenir copy of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, with autograph signatures of Lincoln, William Seward, Secretary of State, and John Nicolay, Private Secretary to the President. This is known as the Leland-Boker edition of the Emancipation Proclamation, after the two men who arranged for its printing by Frederick Leypoldt and subsequent sale at the Philadelphia Great Central Sanitary Fair of June 7-29, 1864. The Sanitary Fairs were created to raise money for sick and wounded soldiers, and to improve conditions in military camps. View Item
Image law codes; laws (documents); pamphlets 16 Items Le code noir ou Edit du roy, servant de reglement pour le gouvernement & l'administration de justice & la police des isles françoises de l'Amerique, & pour la discipline & le commerce des negres & esclaves dans ledit pays The first edition of the French code noir regulating slavery in the Antilles, and one of only two copies in the United States. "Edit du roy ... pour l'établissement du conseil souverain & de quatre siéges royaux dans la coste de l'isle de Saint-Domingue en l'Amerique. Du mois d'aoust 1685"--Page 12-14. Signatures: A-B⁴. Leaf B4 blank. View Item
Image Text 8 Items Seven moments of love : an un-sonnet sequence in blues : typescript, 1939 Typescript of a series of seven poems by Langston Hughes, the African American poet and playwright. The title page is inscribed by Hughes to Earl Jones and dated 1939. Robert Earl Jones was an American actor and prizefighter and a figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, having worked with Langston Hughes early in his career. View Item
Image Text 2 Items The Revolution, 1868 The front pages of the first two issues of The Revolution, a newspaper established by women's rights activists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The entire run of the newspaper has been digitized by Lewis & Clark College and is available on their website at http://digitalcollections.lclark.edu/items/browse?collection=21&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate. "The Organ of the National Party of New America." Editors: Jan. 1868-May 1870, Elizabeth C. Stanton (with Parker Pillsbury, Jan. 1868-July 1, 1869); June 1870-Oct. 1871, Laura C. Bullard; Oct. 1871-Feb. 1872, W.T. Clarke. View Item
Image Text 4 Items George Washington plan to recapture New York, June or July 1781 This rough draft, in George Washington's own handwriting, is addressed to General Henry Knox, his artillery commander, and dates from June or July, 1781. Washington realized that driving the British out of New York City would be the only way to end the Revolutionary War. The plan was "to surprise the Enemy's Post at the North end of York Island", the northern end of Manhattan, and fight his way down to the city, routing the British army. The plan was never realized and the British stayed in New York City until peace was declared in 1783. View Item
Image Still Image 5 Items [A south prospect of ye flourishing city of New York in the province of New York in America, circa 1719-1721] The earliest panoramic view of the East River and New York City, called "The Burgis View". Engraving from four plates on four sheets, issued circa 1719-1721. Drawn by William Burgis in 1717 from what is now known as Brooklyn Heights, and engraved in London by John Harris. Dedication reads: "To His Excellency Robert Hunter Esqr. View Item
Image Text 2 Items George Washington letter to John Mitchell, Newburgh, November 5, 1782 George Washington letter to John Mitchell ordering "a pair of the neatest & best Leather Breeches". Letter transcription: Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-09880. View Item
Image Text 2 Items The New-York weekly journal, containing the freshest advices, foreign and domestick, Munday, September 23d, 1734 John Peter Zenger was a printer and journalist who produced a newspaper, the New-York Weekly Journal, that was critical of the colonial governor of New York, William Cosby. Cosby accused Zenger of libel and Zenger was tried and acquitted in 1735. His acquittal is considered an important step toward freedom of the press in North America. View Item
Image Text 2 Items The daily citizen, Vicksburg, Miss., July 2 and July 4, 1863 Newspaper printed on the back of wallpaper because of shortages in the Confederacy. Sometimes published as: Vicksburg daily citizen. Began in 1859. Ceased in 1864. Issues for June 18-July 4, 1863 printed on wallpaper. View Item
Image Text 2 Items Gilbert Stuart letter to Benjamin West, circa 1776 Dated Monday evening, No. 30 Grace Church St. There are sketches on the letter's interior pages. Gilbert Stuart conveys his destitution and his hopes that Benjamin West can assist him. Stuart writes: "Should Mr. West in his abundant kindness think of ought for me I shall esteem it an obligation which shall bind me forever with gratitude." Gilbert Stuart was, literally, a starving artist, writing to Benjamin West for help. View Item
Image Text 2 Items (No stamped paper to be had.) : Boston, Oct. 28. We hear from Halifax in the province of Nova-Scotia, that on Sunday the 13th inst. in the morning, were discovered hanging on the gallows behind the Citadel-Hill, the effigies of a stampman … Hugh Gaine's Nov. 4, 1765, issue, no. 732, of the New York Mercury, published as a broadside to evade the stamp tax. Issues nos. 732-734 of the New-York Mercury, were printed by Hugh Gaine without number, masthead, or imprint. Upon the inception of the Stamp Act which required that newspapers be printed on imported, stamped paper, Gaine suspended the regular heading of his newspaper. By issuing sheets without the characteristic appearance of a newspaper, he was able to satisfy the subscribers while protecting the firm from legal repercussions. View Item
Image Text 4 Items [Application seeking federal aid to construct the Erie Canal], 8 Oct. 1811 Original printed and signed application addressed to David Holmes, governor of the Mississippi Territory, and accompanying manuscript exemplification addressed to President James Madison seeking federal aid for construction of the Erie Canal; both are dated 8 Oct. 1811 and signed by Canal Commissioners Gouverneur Morris, DeWitt Clinton, Simeon DeWitt, William North, Thomas Eddy, Robert R. Livingston, and Robert Fulton. Included are engravings of full length portraits of Morris, Clinton, Livingston, and Fulton. View Item
Image Text 3 Items A visit from St. Nicholas, Clement C. Moore, 1862 March 13th, originally written many years ago Holograph manuscript, dated March 13, 1862, of Clement C. Moore's famous Christmas poem "A visit from St. Nicholas," originally composed around 1822 and written out by the author on this occasion at the suggestion of New-York Historical librarian George H. Moore, who wished to add a holograph copy of the poem to the library collection. The three page manuscript is accompanied by a cover letter addressed to George Moore by Thomas W.C. Moore, presenting the enclosed manuscript and briefly discussing the circumstances of the poem's original composition forty years earlier. View Item
Image Text 2 Items Sir William Johnson testimonial granting Native Americans ally status with Britain, New York, 1770 William Johnson was Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Colonies. The engraving is attributed to Henry Dawkins. View Item
Image Text 2 Items Proposed Lower Manhattan crosstown expressway Selections from "Proposed Lower Manhattan crosstown expressway", issued by the Office of the Construction Co-ordinator, New York, 1946. The Lower Manhattan Expressway, an extension of I-78 from the Holland Tunnel to the Williamsburg Bridge that would have torn through the neighborhoods of SoHo, Little Italy, and the Lower East Side and displaced countless families and businesses, was originally proposed in 1941 and approved by the City Planning Commission in 1960. It was never built, thanks to opposition by neighborhood activists led by Jane Jacobs. View Item
Image Text 4 Items Francis Lovelace deed for the purchase of Staten Island from the Native Americans on behalf of the Duke of York, April 13, 1670 View Item
Image Still Image 2 Items A new and correct map of North America, with the West India islands, divided according to the preliminary articles of peace, signed at Versailles, 20 Jan. 1783, wherein are particularly distinguished the United States, & the several provinces and colonies New state of 1779 issue showing 1783 boundaries and with changes to the title but retaining the 1779 date in imprint; The map includes articles 4, 5, 7, 9, 17, 18, and 20 of the Treaty of Versailles View Item
Still Image Caesar, an enslaved man, 1851 Daguerreotype. Portrait of an African-American male figure, three quarters-length, front view, holding a staff or a shovel (?) in his right hand, wearing a white collar, dark foulard, and checked waistcoat. A note taped to the back of the case identifies the sitter and sitter's history: "born a slave of Van R. Nicoll, son of William, in 1737 at Bethlehem, N.Y., where he died in 1852, the last slave to die in the North." View Item
Text Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a northern slave : emancipated from bodily servitude by the state of New York, in 1828 … Frontispiece portrait of Sojourner Truth from the New York, 1853 edition of her published memoir. Johns Hopkins University Sheridan Libraries has digitized its copy of this book and made it available via the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/narrativeofsojour00gilb. New-York Historical copy has imprint date on cover: 1855. View Item
Text Freedom's journal, Vol. I, No. 3, New-York, Friday, March 30, 1827 First page of Vol. I, no. 3 (March 30, 1827) of the first newspaper published by African Americans in the United States. Weekly. Published: Vol. 1, no. 1 (March 16, 1827)-v. 2, no. 27 (September 26, 1828) ; v. 2, whole no. 80 (October 3, 1828)-v. 2, whole no. 104 (March 28, 1829). Issues for April 11, 1828-September 26, 1828 called also whole no. 55-whole no. 79. New-York Historical holds scattered issues. View Item
Text An address to the inhabitants of the British settlements in America, upon slave-keeping Title page of an early appeal against slavery by a signer of the Declaration of Independence and noted physician. The pamphlet will be digitized in full at a future date. Published anonymously. Rush acknowledged authorship in the preface to his Essays, 1798. Signatures: [A]⁴ B-D⁴. References: Evans 12990; Sabin 74202; ESTC W5139. View Item
Text Men of color, to arms! : a call by Frederick Douglass In this broadside, African American statesman Frederick Douglass urges Black men to fight for the Union and enlist in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. Signed at end: Frederick Douglass, Rochester, March 2, 1863. View Item
Still Image Sojourner Truth, I sell the shadow to support the substance Carte de visite photograph of the antislavery activist, feminist, and social reformer Sojourner Truth. The "shadow" refers to her photographic image, which she sold to raise money for her various progressive causes. View Item
Text An evening thought. : Salvation by Christ, with penetential cries: / composed by Jupiter Hammon, a Negro belonging to Mr Lloyd, of Queen's-Village, on Long-Island, the 25th of December, 1760 The first poem published by an African American in North America. Verse of eighty-eight lines; first line: Salvation comes by Jesus Christ alone. View Item
Text By the president of the United States. A proclamation. … That on the first day of January ... one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves ... shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free ... Souvenir copy of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, with autograph signatures of Lincoln, William Seward, Secretary of State, and John Nicolay, Private Secretary to the President. This is known as the Leland-Boker edition of the Emancipation Proclamation, after the two men who arranged for its printing by Frederick Leypoldt and subsequent sale at the Philadelphia Great Central Sanitary Fair of June 7-29, 1864. The Sanitary Fairs were created to raise money for sick and wounded soldiers, and to improve conditions in military camps. View Item
Image law codes; laws (documents); pamphlets 16 Items Le code noir ou Edit du roy, servant de reglement pour le gouvernement & l'administration de justice & la police des isles françoises de l'Amerique, & pour la discipline & le commerce des negres & esclaves dans ledit pays The first edition of the French code noir regulating slavery in the Antilles, and one of only two copies in the United States. "Edit du roy ... pour l'établissement du conseil souverain & de quatre siéges royaux dans la coste de l'isle de Saint-Domingue en l'Amerique. Du mois d'aoust 1685"--Page 12-14. Signatures: A-B⁴. Leaf B4 blank. View Item
Image Text 8 Items Seven moments of love : an un-sonnet sequence in blues : typescript, 1939 Typescript of a series of seven poems by Langston Hughes, the African American poet and playwright. The title page is inscribed by Hughes to Earl Jones and dated 1939. Robert Earl Jones was an American actor and prizefighter and a figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, having worked with Langston Hughes early in his career. View Item