N-YHS Digital Collections

: Crean Brush account books, 1765-1766; Two volumes of account books (30 and 48 p., respectively) belonging to Loyalist Crean Brush. First volume has had several pages removed., Crean Brush emigrated to New York from Ireland in 1762. From 1773-1775 he served in the New York legislature as a representative of the town of Wesminster, in what would later become Vermont, where he had accumulated extensive land holdings. During the Revolutionary War he served under British General Gage and was imprisoned by Revolutionary forces. Having lost his property, he committed suicide after the war ended.

: James Buchanan draft of inaugural address, March 4, 1857; A manuscript copy, signed and with corrections in James Buchanan’s hand, of his inaugural address at his swearing-in as the fifteenth president of the United States. Notorious as the president whose term immediately preceded the outbreak of the Civil War, Buchanan begins his presidency by attempting to address the sectional conflicts then brewing over slavery. Celebrating the role of popular sovereignty in easing tensions, Buchanan takes an optimistic approach that ensuing events would later prove incorrect., New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024

: William Burnet papers, 1720-1742 (bulk 1720-1729); Three folders (62 items) of mostly official signed documents from Burnet's tenure as governor of New York and New Jersey, including land grants, warrants for letters patent, memorials, leases, receipts, bills, and lists of accounts. James Alexander is a frequent co-signer and correspondent, and the collection also includes several bonds from Alexander to Burnet for fairly large sums of money. A few later documents discuss the disposition of Burnet's estate., William Burnet served as governor of the colonies of New York and New Jersey from 1720-28, and as governor of the colony of Massachusetts from 1728-1729.

: Salvator Cillis correspondence, 1917-1919; Salvator Cillis (September 5, 1892-February 17, 1966) was born in Potenza, Italy and immigrated to New York with his family in 1901. He worked as a sign painter at The Levy Company before being drafted for service in World War I attached to the 77th Division, 306th Infantry. This collection is composed of illustrated letters, postcards and envelopes produced by Cillis during this period (1917-1919). The correspondence covers his basic training at Camp Upton, Long Island before being sent to France and often invokes a sense of humor while discussing military life, with descriptions of the quality of food at Camp Upton, a snowball fight with other soldiers, everyday aspects of training, as well as his experiences abroad. Illustrations in pen and ink, and watercolor, depict fellow soldiers, and scenes from both Camp Upton and France. Cillis’ letters are mainly to Morris Van Veen, William Chasin and Dorothy M. Harris, his coworkers at the Levy Company.

: John Clarkson manuscripts, August 6, 1791-August 4, 1792; John Clarkson (1764-1828) was an English abolitionist, agent for the Sierra Leone Company, and lieutenant in the British Royal Navy. The collection consists of Clarkson's manuscripts, written in journal form, of his involvement with the settlement of free African-American loyalists from Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone, Africa. The loyalists had been evacuated from New York when the British pulled out at the end of the Revolutionary War and initially settled in Nova Scotia. Volume 1, entitled "Clarkson's Mission to America," covers August 6, 1791-March 18, 1792 as Clarkson arranged for the transportation of the settlers; it provides a detailed account of his activities in Nova Scotia, persons he met there, and the problems fitting out the ships. Volume 2, entitled "Clarksons Mission to Africa," covers March 19, 1792-August 4, 1792. Clarkson's account of the founding and first months of Free Town, Sierra Leone gives numerous details of the difficulties met, relations with the native population, attitudes of the Nova Scotia settlers, and supplies.

: George Clinton (ca. 1686-1761) collection, 1744-1751; 24 letters and one warrant signed by George Clinton (ca. 1686-1761) in his capacity as governor of New York between 1744 and 1751. The majority of the letters are written from New York, addressed to Major Jacob Glen, and discuss various issues relating to King Georges War, especially negotiations with the Indians for their support in the war and troop supply problems. A letter dated Fort George, New York, May 30, 1751, announces the death of the Prince of Wales to the Council and General Assembly; two others, dated October 7, 1746 and October 13, 1751, are addressed to two subsequent lieutenant-governors of Pennsylvania, George Thomas and James Hamilton. The warrant, dated July 24, 1746, authorizes Henry Holland to impress any carpenter or materials necessary to the building of ""battoes."", George Clinton (ca. 1686-1761) was a British naval officer and politician who served as colonial governor of New York from 1743 to 1753.

: N.L. Coe and A.J. Drummond, Lower East Side photograph collection, 1901; The Lower East Side Photograph Collection spans the period from March to June 1901 and contains 63 gelatin silver photographs of buildings, on and around Delancey Street, before they were demolished during construction of the Williamsburg Bridge. The photographs show the markets, shops, saloons, and other businesses in the area; signs for many of these are in Yiddish. The images also capture the residents of the neighborhood, including several children, on the street and peering from windows of tenements. This neighborhood survey provides a unique view of life in this predominately Jewish neighborhood. All but two of the photographs are by N.L. Coe. The remainder are by A.J. Drummond.

: John Coffin drafts of statements to the Court of Inquiry, 1783; Drafts of Major John Coffin's statements in reply to the defense of Lieutenant-Colonel George Campbell at Campbell's court martial. Major John Coffin and Lieutenant-Colonel George Campbell both served in the loyalist Kings American Regiment during the Revolutionary War. Campbell was very unpopular among his fellow officers in the regiment, and was court martialed in the summer of 1783. Among the charges levelled against him was unfair treatment of fellow officer Abraham de Peyster, who Campbell had had arrested and tried on a variety of charges earlier that year. (De Peyster was acquitted.) The court suspended Campbell without pay for six months. The enmity between Coffin and Campbell continued after the sentencing, with Coffin allegedly challenging Campbell to a duel and posting infammatory writings about Campbell in public places. Eventually the two did exchange shots with pistols, each wounding the other, but neither man was killed. Later that year Coffin moved with his family to Canada, where he spent the rest of his life.

: Collins family letters, 1862-1863; 66 autograph letters, signed, between James B. Collins and his brother Joseph T. Collins, their parents John W. and Mary Anne Collins, and a handful of friends and relatives, all dated between February 4, 1862 and July 9, 1863. The bulk of the letters from the front are written by James B. Collins. Also includes a manuscript copy of lyrics to a song entitled "Song of the Louisiana Lowlands." James B. and Joseph T. Collins of New York City enlisted in the U.S. Navy in August of 1862. They were first assigned to the U.S.S. Monticello, and then transferred to the U.S.S. Commodore Barney. Before being assigned to the Barney, among other experiences they witnessed the destruction of the ironclad U.S.S. Monitor off Cape Hatteras on December 31, 1862. Joseph Collins was killed on the Barney during the Battle of Suffolk on April 14, 1863; James survived the battle but lost an arm in the same explosion that killed his brother. James B. Collins was honorably discharged on July 16, 1863 and returned to New York. He became an Internal Revenue officer for the First District of New York City in 1872.

: Crooke family papers, 1737-1804 (bulk 1737-1750); Twenty-four letters and financial accounts created by members of the Crooke family, originally of Ulster County, N.Y. Collection includes six documents pertaining to the disposal of the estate of Charles Crooke, Jr., dated 1753-1767; one autograph letter, signed, from John Crooke to Martin S. Wilkins, dated Rhinebeck, July 27, 1807; twelve autograph letters, signed, of an official nature from John Crooke Jr. to Henry Livingston, then clerk of neighboring Dutchess county, ranging in dare from 1737-1750; three personal autograph letters, signed, from William Crooke to Peter E. Elmendorf, all dated Raritan, ranging from 1784-1790; two undated autograph letters, signed, from Rebecca Wickham Crooke to cousins Peter E. Elmendorf and a Mrs. Bleecker (probably Catherine Elmendorf Bleecker, b. 1747)-- the latter is a letter of introduction for Mrs. Jeremiah Reynolds., John Crooke, Jr. served as clerk of Ulster county from 1746-1759. Other members of the Crooke family were also prominent in Ulster county politics, especially in the town of Kingston. Robert Crooke (1717-1802) moved to Rhode Island, married Ann Wickham, and had a daughter, Rebecca Wickham Crooke.

: Bill Cunningham "Facades" photograph collection, circa 1968-1976; This collection consists of 91 photographs by famed New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham of his friend, neighbor, and fellow photographer Editta Sherman posing in period costumes in front of New York City buildings matching the same era as her clothing. Cunningham and Sherman scoured antique shops, street fairs, and auctions for period clothing, and conducted painstaking research to identify appropriate matching buildings. The project took eight years to complete and culminated in a 1977 exhibition at New-York Historical and other venues, as well as the 1978 book Facades.

: Alexander Jackson Davis collection,1837-1888; Correspondence, drafts of essays and speeches, drawings, and autobiographical writings of Alexander Jackson Davis, a successful New York City architect. Includes letters to Davis and miscellaneous papers, 1835-1859, chiefly about building residences. The correspondents include Francis H. Smith of the Virginia Military Institute, Joel Rathbone, W.J. Rotch, and H.K. Harral. The collection also includes numerous examples of autobiographical writing, and notes and essays on the philosophy of architecture, all in draft form, many scribbled in pencil on the backs of advertisements or old letters.

: Mahlon Day's Journal of a voyage among the West India Islands, November 11, 1839-April 20, 1840; Mahlon Day (1790-1854) was a Quaker, publisher of children's books, printer, and bookseller in New York City. This is a contemporary copy of a diary kept by Day while on a tour of the West Indies (November 1839-April 1840) in the company of Joseph John Gurney, the English Quaker philanthropist, minister, and writer. In most of the places they visited, they did considerable sightseeing, held religious services for all faiths, and were entertained by many residents. They were particularly interested in education, religion, and the condition of the Black population, especially on the free islands as compared to those that still permitted slavery. Day also includes many rhymes composed by Gurney to commemorate particular occasions. Persons whom they visited include Sir W.M.B.G. Colebrooke and Nathaniel Gilbert of Antigua, and John and Maria Candler of Jamaica.

: Charles Willoughby Dayton diaries, 1863-1865; The diaries of Charles Willoughby Dayton (1846-1910) date from 1863 to 1865 and contain entries about the weather and war news. He writes negatively about African Americans, African American soldiers, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Abraham Lincoln. He also mentions the New York Draft Riots and his fear of being killed by the mobs. Other events and topics noted by Dayton include the marriage of Tom Thumb, the death of Edwin Booth's wife, Mary Booth (ne Devlin), the New York Sanitary Fair of 1864, and the campaign leading up to the presidential election of 1864 (Dayton was a supporter of George McClellan, and makes many entries concerning the campaign and his fears that Lincoln will be re-elected). The Charles Willoughby Dayton papers were donated to the New-York Historical Society by William Charles Willoughby Dayton Denby III, and the diaries were digitized thanks to his generosity.

: Charles John Michael De Wolf correspondence with Gouverneur Morris, 1790-1809; Letters, some in French, from C.J.M. De Wolf, a banker in Antwerp, Belgium, or, after 1806, his wife, to Gouverneur Morris concerning financial matters such as loans for the U.S., economic conditions in the U.S. and Europe and De Wolf’s speculations involving 440,000 acres of land in northern New York State. Frequently mentiond are Phyn, Ellis & Inglis, William Constable & Co., William Short and Le Ray de Chaumont.

: Duane family cookbooks, 1840-1874; Six volumes of recipes, dated 1840-1874, accompanied by twenty-eight loose recipes (most undated), a letter to Eliza Duane from her cousin Kate, and a handwritten song to the tune of "Yankee Doodle." Eliza Duane, and is dated November 28, 1843, another is identified as belonging to Mrs. Mary Wells (undated), and still another was given by S.T. Bagg to Fanny T. Wells, and is dated December 25, 1857; the remaining three volumes most likely belonged to these women or other members of the Wells or Duane families. The cookbooks and accompanying loose sheets contain recipes for various cakes (including "Jenny Lind Cake" and "Election Cake"), preserves, puddings, desserts and soups, as well as directions for pickling (including "Pickled Oysters") and curing of various meats and other foods. One of the loose sheets also has a medicinal recipe for the treatment of cholera ("Cholera Mixture")., Six volumes of recipes (circa 378 pages) and thirty loose items.

: Duane family papers, 1665-1916 (bulk 1756-1900); This collection contains papers relating to the Duane family and associated families. The bulk of the collection concerns the papers of James Duane, a prominent New York lawyer, patriot, and land developer. James Duane (1733-1797) became the ward of Robert Livingston after his father's death around 1734 and married Livingston's daughter Mary in 1759. He made a number of profitable real estate investments and was a prominent lawyer by the time of the American Revolution. He was a member of the Revolutionary Committee of New York, the Continental Congress, one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation, a member of the Constitutional Convention, a U.S. District judge from 1789 to 1794, and mayor of the city of New York from 1794 to 1789.

: Asher B. Durand sketchbooks; Asher B. Durand (1796–1886), a central artist of the Hudson River School, spent nearly twenty-four years as a successful commercial engraver. His talent as an engraver was based on his drawing skills, explaining his insistence on the importance of outline, the precise renderings in his sketchbooks and drawings, and his devotion to sketching with graphite outdoors. The artist’s empiricism and dedication to Nature is evident in ten sketchbooks (two fragmentary from sketchbooks now disassembled) held by the Historical Society. Although Durand's drawings, including those in the sketchbooks, were primarily for personal study, they played a central role in his aesthetic process.

: Letters to Thomas J. Durant, 1869-1879; Nine letters from various correspondents to Thomas Jefferson Durant, a lawyer and Louisiana state senator, and one of the few prominent Southerners who supported the Union during the Civil War. After the war he practiced in Washington D.C.

: Robert Erskine-Simeon DeWitt maps, 1778-1783; This series of field sketches and finished maps of projected battle sites in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary war was begun by Robert Erskine, geographer and surveyor-general to the Continental Army, and completed by his successor, Simeon De Witt. Robert Erskine (1735-1780) was appointed Geographer to Washington’s army in 1777. He surveyed both sides of the Hudson River and a large area covering the adjoining states. Many of the maps are rough field sketches, from which more detailed maps were later drawn. Simeon DeWitt (1756-1834) succeeded Erskine as Geographer-in-Chief in 1780, and oversaw surveys of the roads heading south through Maryland and Virginia to Williamsburg and Yorktown, aiding in Washington’s decisive victory at Yorktown. The Erskine-De Witt series culminates with the detailed Winter-Cantonment of the American Army and it's [sic] Vicinity for 1783, which shows the final encampment of the Continental forces at New Windsor, New York, during the winter of 1782-1783., New-York Historical Society

: George R. Fardon's San Francisco album, 1856; George R. Fardon (1806-1886) was an English photographer who operated in San Francisco, CA and Victoria, BC. The album consists of thirty images of San Francisco in 1856, published as a portfolio by Herre & Bauer. The San Francisco album is considered the first published compilation of photographs of any American city and the major work of Fardon’s career. This is one of ten known variant copies.

: William Pitt Fessenden correspondence, 1839-1888 (bulk 1858-1869); Correspondence of William Pitt Fesssenden, and his sons Francis Fessenden and James Deering Fessenden. The majority of letters are addressed to William Pitt Fessenden on financial and political matters, but a few are private; several letters are addressed to Francis Fessenden, including one from William Pitt Fessenden. A handful are addressed to James Fessenden. Four letters (J.C. Ropes to P.W. Chandler,1868; Joshua C. Stone to A.J.C. Sowdon, 1868; Charles Allen to A.J.C. Sowdon, 1868; and William Paine to J.A. Deblars, undated) are not addressed to any member of the Fessenden family, but mention William Pitt Fessenden or one of his sons., William Pitt Fesssenden was a U.S. senator from Maine (1854-1864, 1865-1869) and Secretary of the Treasury during the Civil War (1864-1865). His sons, General Francis and Brigadier General James Deering Fessenden were both lawyers active in Maine politics and served in the Civil War.

: William Fox's A call to the people of Great Britain, to refrain from the use of West India sugar and rum, 1791; Anonymous. By William Fox. Formerly attributed to William Bell Crafton. Also published in the same year under the title ’An address to the people of Great Britain, on the propriety of abstaining from West India sugar and rum’. Signatures: A⁶. ESTC T192271., New-York Historical Society

: Cass Gilbert presentation drawings, circa 1900-1935; This digital collection highlights 41 presentation drawings from the Cass Gilbert Architectural Collection at the New-York Historical Society. A list of Gilbert's best-known structures indicates the national scope and large scale of his commissions: the Minnesota State Capitol; United States Custom House, New York; St. Louis Art Museum; West Street Building, New York; his masterpiece, the Woolworth Building, New York; New York Life Insurance Building; and the United States Supreme Court, Washington, D.C. Cass Gilbert (1859-1934) studied for a year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and traveled in Europe before apprenticing with McKim, Mead & White in New York from 1880 to 1882. Gilbert then returned to St. Paul, Minnesota, and practiced in partnership with James Knox Taylor until 1892, when he started his own firm. He established a New York office in 1898 and by the end of his long career had worked on some 600 projects.

: Joseph Goodwin diary, 1820-1827; Joseph Goodwin was a plantation manager in Cuba originally from Hudson, N.Y. This diary was presumably kept by Goodwin, although it may have been kept by his brother. After leaving home in Hudson, N.Y., Goodwin worked for Gen. George De Wolf, first in Bristol, Rhode Island for a few months and then on De Wolf's plantations near Matanzas, Cuba as a manager or overseer. The plantations grew mainly coffee, although other crops are mentioned. The crops were worked by enslaved labor. The diary entries are mainly routine and record weather, plantation activities, people met, and local news. They often mention George and William De Wolf. While in Cuba, Goodwin stayed first at the home of John Line and later at the plantations Buena Esperanza and Arca de Noe. Some pages of the diary are missing.

: Eugene Gordon photograph collection, 1970-1990 (bulk 1975-1980); The Eugene Gordon Photograph Collection contains black and white gelatin silver prints of street life, religious groups, buildings, and public events of New York City. The photographs show New Yorkers going about their lives in a vibrant city. Gordons attention to detail, and to the changing face of the citys population and streetscape, is evident in images showing ethnic neighborhoods in Queens. The largest groupings of photographs are of Times Square and the 1970 Women's Strike for Equality. Other images show Hare Krishnas, Sikhs, St. Peters Lutheran church being demolished, and the United Nations. Several photographs represent the following neighborhoods: Harlem, Jackson Heights, Flushing, and Long Island City in Queens, Brighton Beach and Greenpoint in Brooklyn. Gift given in two parts: Eugene Gordon, 2005 & Miriam Gordon, 2008.

: Ebenezer Gray collection, 1777-1844 (bulk 1777-1786); Letters, certificates, land grants and military orders pertaining to the life of Ebenezer Gray of Connecticut. Items include Grays commissions as major (dated 1777, signed by John Hancock) and lieutenant-colonel in the Sixth Connecticut Regiment (1778, signed by John Jay); eight letters from various officers discussing military matters; Grays membership certificate in the Society of the Cincinnati, signed by George Washington; and a land grant to Grays three children, signed by Thomas Jefferson. Two items dated 1841 and 1844 relate to the discovery of Grays powder horn in Germantown, which was lost in battle, and arrangements to return it to his family., Ebenezer Gray of Windham, Connecticut served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the American Revolution.

: Horace Greeley collection, 1840-1872; Letters, notes, a printed circular, and one receipt pertaining to the life and activites of Horace Greeley, dated from 1840 to 1872. Nearly all letters are written by Greeley; recipents include Thurlow Weed, Henry Clay, Roscoe Conkling, Andrew Johnson, Hamilton Fish, and Joshua R. Giddings. Receipt is for a subscription to Greeleys Whig newsletter ""Log Cabin,"" signed by Greeley., Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811-November 29, 1872) was an American politician and newspaper editor.

: Norvin H. Green collection of elevated railroad photographs, circa 1890-1910, 1937-1941; This digital collection includes 3,417 cellulose nitrate photographic negatives from the Norvin H. Green Collection of Elevated Railroad Photographs. Norvin Hewitt Green (1894-1955) was a business executive, civic leader, railroad enthusiast, and trustee of The New-York Historical Society who compiled a photographic record of New York elevated railroads that focuses on the dismantling of most of the lines between 1939 and1941, hiring the firm of H.F. Dutcher to document the demolition in almost 4,000 views. Views show the changes block by block as the heavy skeletal structure and stations were removed along Manhattan’s Sixth Avenue line (1939), Ninth Avenue line (1940), and Second Avenue line (1941); and along Brooklyn’s Fifth Avenue, Fulton Street, and Sands Street lines (1941).

: John Greenwood music book, circa 1780; Manuscript book of music given to Greenwood by a British fife-major, probably after 1780. According to 'Early American Secular Music and Its European Sources, 15891839: An Index' (http://www.colonialdancing.org/Easmes/Biblio/B018536.htm, viewed August 6, 2012), the music is probably for German flute or violin, and it is a leisure collection for a gentleman and not music for use in the military as some sources suggest. The volume contains 87 numbered leaves. Leaves 18 and 24 are blank, and leaves 76-77 and 82-86 are lacking. Approximately 80 tunes are in the volume as well as biographical and historical notes added to the final leaves in the 19th and 20th centuries., Fife-major, 15th Massachusetts Regiment; he later became a dentist in New York City. Gift of Mary M. Greenwood and Eliza R. Greenwood, Dec. 7, 1942.

: Marion Mahony Griffin's The Magic of America; Typescript of over 1,400 pages with approximately 650 accompanying illustrations written and compiled by Marion Mahony Griffin (1871–1961), architect, designer, delineator and artist, with her husband Walter Burley Griffin (1876–1937), architect, landscape designer and city planner. Their architectural practice spanned almost four decades on three continents. The Magic of America: Electronic Edition collates in a digital format all the texts and illustrations from the three known copies of the work, including the New-York Historical Society's copy. The electronic edition thus represents the most complete and accessible version currently available of this important architectural document. Click here to view the full collection.

: Arthur W. Grumbine photograph collection, 1938-1960, undated; Collection of 133 silver gelatin photographs of Manhattan, approximately 1938 to 1960, taken by amateur photographer Arthur W. Grumbine. Part of the collection consists of street scenes and views of individual buildings taken in various neighborhoods around the city from the 1930s through the 1960s, and include images of street vendors, construction sites, signs and storefronts, building interiors, aerial and riverfront views, Times Square, Washington Square, South Street, and vignettes depicting life on the streets of Manhattan's Little Italy, Chinatown, and Lower East Side. The remainder of the collection consists principally of photographs of subjects such as elevated trains, ferries and riverboats, horse drawn carts, and a single image of a New York City streetcar. Also included are a handful of photographs of miscellaneous and unidentified subjects, as well as two photo prints of pen and ink drawings executed and photographed by Grumbine.

: George P. Hall & Son photograph collection, circa 1876-1914; The George P. Hall & Son collection consists of 1,649 photographic prints and negatives. The large-format views provide clear, extremely detailed and flattering depictions of a variety of subjects, including Manhattan's early skyscrapers, hotels and theater exteriors, harbor activity, and downtown streets, as well as Brooklyn business areas and resorts. George P. Hall & Son photographed the Battery skyline repeatedly from the 1880s through the 1910s, documenting the dramatic changes that occurred as New York progressed from a lowrise to a highrise city. George P. Hall (1832-1900) started his commercial photography business at 78 Fulton Street around 1875, and was officially joined by his son James S. Hall in 1886 when firm took the name George P. Hall & Son. After his father's death, James continued to run the business until about 1914.

: Alexander Hamilton duel with Aaron Burr, July 11, 1804; Correspondence of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr preceding their duel which resulted in Hamilton's death on July 11, 1804. Also correspondence of their seconds, Nathaniel Pendleton and William Van Ness, and two letters from Elizabeth Hamilton, Alexander's widow, to Nathaniel Pendleton. Alexander Hamilton was the Caribbean-born American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1789 to 1795. Aaron Burr was a politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States during President Thomas Jefferson's first term from 1801 to 1805.

: Observations on certain documents contained in no. V & VI of "The history of the United States for the year 1796," : in which the charge of speculation against Alexander Hamilton, late secretary of the Treasury, is fully refuted. / Written by himself.; Signed on p. 37: Alexander Hamilton. Philadelphia, July, 1797. Signatures: [A]⁴ B-M⁴ (gathering F missigned E). Error in paging: p. xxxviii misnumbered xxxiii. New-York Historical copy 2: vertical chain lines. Title page inscribed: "Gnr. Baker. Sept. 9th. 1797. Museum" and "New York Historical Society from John Pintard 1807". With a passage from Johnson’s Rambler no. 68 [?] copied in contemporary manuscript to the verso of the title page. References: Evans 32222; ESTC W21303., New-York Historical Society

: Jupiter Hammon poem on Anne Hutchinson, 1770; Untitled poem attributed to Jupiter Hammon (1711-circa 1806), a Black man enslaved by the Lloyd family, proprietors of the Manor of Queens Village in what is now the Village of Lloyd Harbor, N.Y. It was composed as a tribute to Anne Hutchinson, who was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for challenging the authority of Puritan ministers. The poem is part of the Townsend family papers, and was written down by Phebe Townsend, youngest of Robert Townsend's three sisters. The Townsends interacted with the Lloyd family. Inscribed at the foot of page [3]: “Compos[e]d by Jupiter Hammon, A Negro Belonging to Mr. Joseph Lloyd of Q[u]eens Villiage [sic] on Long Island. August the 10th 1770. Phebe Townsend.”

: Henry Hart papers, 1782-1793; Letter, promissory notes, and accounts relative Henry Hart of Kingsbury, N.Y., and the administration of his estate. Account of Hamilton McCollister lists numerous people with claims to Harts estate.

: William D. Hassler photograph collection, approximately 1910-1921; William Davis Hassler (1877-1921) worked as a commercial photographer in New York City from 1909 to his death in 1921. He shot a wide range of subjects for a variety of clients, from magazines to construction companies, postal card publishers, and private commissions. Regular work came from the real estate auction house Joseph P. Day, for whom Hassler documented properties all over the five boroughs of New York City as well as Westchester County, Long Island, and New Jersey; and from the United Electric Light & Power Company, who he provided with images of power plants, illuminated signs, and product shots of electrical appliances of all kinds. Hassler was also an avid photographer of his family and friends, including his sister Harriet E. Hassler, who was head of the children’s department of the Queens Borough Public Library, his wife Ethel Magaw Hassler, and his son William Gray Hassler.

: Lewis Hine New York City newsboys album, circa 1908-1912; This collection consists of 43 photographs, mounted on 44 loose album pages of gray paper (one photograph is missing), of New York City newsboys (or "newsies"), probably taken by Lewis Hine for the National Child Labor Committee circa 1908-1912. All photographs are captioned with the subject's name, age, address, school, whether they had a badge or not, and the location of the photograph.

: Plates from Huddy & Duval's U.S. military magazine, 1839-1842; This collection consists of eleven plates from the U.S. Military Magazine, a periodical published from 1839 to 1842 in Philadelphia, Pa. The prints were created by Huddy & Duval, a firm of lithographers in Philadelphia. Each issue of the magazine included an illustration of a soldier wearing the uniform of one of Philadelphia's volunteer militias. There are some additional plates of military and naval subjects. Most of the images were drawn by William M. Huddy, lithographed by Alfred Hoffy, and printed by Peter S. Duval. This set of plates was collected by John S. Barnes and is part of the Naval History Society Library, now at the New-York Historical Society.

: Frank M. Ingalls photograph collection, circa 1901-1930; The Frank M. Ingalls Photograph Collection includes 1611 photographic prints and negatives of New York City and vicinity. Frank M. Ingalls (1862-1956) wrote that he always carried a small camera with him, even when it rained, to be sure he never missed an unexpected opportunity. The collection includes photographs taken around lower Manhattan and Queens. The majority of the views are of skyscraper and building construction and street scenes. The construction of the Singer Building and the Metropolitan Life Building are particularly well documented. Other well-represented structures include bridges, statues, and monuments. Also present in great numbers are images of different types of ships and boats in the waters around Manhattan, such as steamships, yachts, tugboats, ferryboats, and excursion boats. The photographs document an era in which the cityscape was rapidly being transformed by an upswing in the cycle of demolition and construction that has characterized so much of the history of New York City.

: J. H. W., Sketchbook of 19 folios, 5 blank, and 12 loose sheets, with Draft Riot scenes, 1860-1880; This collection of thirteen sketches (graphite, and black ink and wash on paper) has been digitized from a small sketchbook in the New-York Historical Society's Museum. Most of these Civil War-era sketches were done by an artist identified only as 'J.H.W.', with other sketches inscribed 'Bart del.' Although there are other subjects in the sketchbook, including New York City street scenes and depictions of various types of people, only those sketches depicting New York during the Civil War at the time of the Draft Riots are included in the digital collection. The Draft Riots of 1863 began when angry laborers took to the street, destroying African American neighborhoods, recruiting offices, and churches, and killing 105 people. They were frustrated by the draft, and especially over the regulation stating that people could buy their way out of the draft for three hundred dollars. The sketchbook may be dated to between 1858 and 1869, since it was purchased from a business listed in New York City directories for that period. It was filled with drawings from the 1860s until approximately the 1880s. Label inside cover: "From / Goupil's / 772 Broadway". Gift of George A. Zabriskie, 1943.

: 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. Jay's draft speaks of "the Convention" making certain provisions while the published essay substitutes "the Constitution." Jay's justification of the election of Senators by state legislatures is omitted in the final, published paper. In answering objections to making treaties the supreme law of the land, Jay, in his draft, cites examples of British constitutional law; in his published version, the citations refer to colonial and state practice. Jay's concluding paragraph asking for a fair trial for a constitutional plan with theoretical merits is omitted in the published essay.

: J.S. Johnston photograph collection, 1890-1899; Collection of 108 photographs taken circa 1890-1899 by J.S Johnston, a New York City based marine and scenic photographer, including original glass negatives and modern gelatin silver photographic prints. The photographs are pleasant depictions of New York City landmarks, as well as Niagara Falls, Boston, the Hudson River valley, Puerto Rico, Montreal, and Quebec. There are also some images of shipping, and of Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody) and his Wild West Show.

: Frederick Kelly photograph collection, 1959-1976; The Frederick Kelly Photograph Collection spans the period from 1959-1976 and contains 250 black and white silver gelatin photographs, primarily taken in New York City. Frederick Kelly (1905-1999) lived in Baltimore, MD, where he worked as a librarian and an educator. His interests included photography, and he enjoyed traveling to New York City in his later years to photograph the vibrant city's buildings and people. Kelly appears to have been interested in the myriad different characters that mark the fabric of urban life. Most of the photographs are candid; the subjects do not appear to have known their picture was being taken. In general, this quality lends these photographs a documentary air, and allows the views of the city to appear lived in and fresh.

: John Lansing notebooks, 1787; Two autograph notebooks (1787 May 25-June 16 and 1787 June 18-July 10), containing John Lansing's notes taken during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Some contents include: transcriptions of various committee reports, including a transcription of Alexander Hamilton's plan ('Colonel Hamilton's System'); the text of Elbridge Gerry's committee report of July 5 1787; and a three-page list of the delegates of the convention arranged by state (excluding New Hampshire, since their delegates arrived after Lansing had left Philadelphia)., John Lansing, delegate to the Constitutional Convention from New York, was born in Albany on January 30th, 1754. He was admitted to the bar in 1775, but temporarily suspended his practice to serve as aide-de-camp to General Philip Schuyler in 1776 and 1777. Beginning in 1780, Lansing served his first of six terms in the New York State Assembly, where he would be elected speaker twice. He was a member of Congress under the Articles of Confederation from 1785 to 1786, at which point he was chosen to be mayor of Albany. In 1790, he was appointed to the New York State Supreme Court, and became Chief Justice in 1798. In 1801, he was made Chancellor of New York State, a position he held until his retirement in 1814. Upon retiring, Lansing returned to practicing law, and made an unsuccessful attempt to return to the New York State Assembly, running and losing in 1824. He nonetheless kept busy, becoming involved with Columbia College and the State University of New York (where he was named a regent), and spending a great deal of time managing his land holdings, which were nearly 40,000 acres. Lansing disappeared one evening in December of 1829, while he was in New York City for some meetings at Columbia College. Lansing was last seen walking from his hotel to the dock at Cortlandt Street to mail some letters; he never returned and was never heard from again.

: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Civil War drawings collection, approximately 1861-1865.; This collection contains 111 images of drawings and text, depicting both important events and everyday scenes from the Civil War. The pencil, pen-and-ink, crayon and wash drawings range in size from 5 x 5 inches to 19 x 12 inches., The drawings were made by 'special artists' employed by Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, and used as a basis for the wood engravings that illustrated it. Many of the artists were professionals such as John Francis Edward Hillen and E. B. Bensell. Others were soldiers and others in the field who submitted their drawings for publication. The sketches were made from the earliest days of the war, in April 1861, when troops were being moved to defend Washington D.C., to February 1865, when the U.S. flag was raised over Fort Sumter after being recaptured by Union troops. Some works date from April and May 1865, when Lincoln's body was lying in state after his assassination. The sketches were able to capture action that photographs were not able to convey at the time, and provide immediacy lacking in the other mediums. This collection of drawings from the New-York Historical Society's Museum Department was acquired through the James B. Wilbur Fund from the collection of John T. Kavanaugh, Rutherford, N.J., in 1945.

: Edwin Levick Studio photograph collection, 1926-1943 (bulk 1935-1938); The collection consists of 212 negatives (most film and some glass). Among the 20 negatives from around 1925 are views of Times Square at night and Walter Chrysler’s home. Almost 80 negatives record the 1938 Eagle Pencil Company strike. Other assignments from the 1930s include the Housewrecker’s Union strike, a women’s tennis tournament, movie theater marquees, radio opera broadcasts sponsored by General Motors, and Jimmy Durante as Santa Claus. Each image has a brief caption. Edwin Levick (1868-1929) specialized in spot news and marine photography. His New York City studio, staffed with some eight assistants, supplied illustrations for the rotogravure sections of several leading newspapers. Most of images in this collection date from the decade after Levick’s death, when the studio continued to cover local news topics.

: Abraham Lincoln manuscripts, 1858-1865; Drawn from several manuscript collections at the New-York Historical Society, Abraham Lincoln drafted, signed, endorsed, or received the 192 documents presented in this digital collection during his presidency. They range from correspondence with his Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, to proclamations and other official documents signed by Lincoln, to letters, telegrams, and petitions received by him from government officials, military leaders, and ordinary citizens. These documents reveal Lincoln's eloquence and his deep engagement in the affairs of state as he writes, comments, signs off, and makes decisions on numerous issues relating to war, politics, and government. Together they provide unique insights into the arduous role of the presidency as Lincoln guided the nation through its most difficult time.

: Petition of Citizens of New York to Abraham Lincoln, undated [circa 1862]; Undated petition, probably circa 1862, to United States President Abraham Lincoln from citizens of New York requesting that the governor of New York be authorized to raise a number of regiments composed wholly or partly of African American troops, including the signatures and addresses of petitioners. In scroll form, approximately 25 feet long., Mss Collection - BV Petitions, New-York Historical Society

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