Historical and Literary Manuscripts Collection

Individual and multiple items of figures of historical or literary significance, including autographs, letters, official documents, literary mss., illuminated mss., engravings, and a few printed items. Includes items for each of the U.S. presidents through Woodrow Wilson, especially letters (1775) from John Adams to Elbridge Gerry describing the proceedings of the Second Continental Congress, letter (1808) from Thomas Jefferson to the General Assembly of North Carolina explaining his decision not to seek a third term, and from Millard Fillmore and others to John W. Allen (1843) discussing campaign machinery for the 1844 election; items for numerous French artists of the 18th and 19th centuries; relatively large number of items for both Samuel Langhorne Clemens and Eugene Field; 13 letters from three members of the Huntington family of Connecticut describing condition of soldiers during the American Revolution; items addressed to Anna Morgan, a Chicago educator, or Edward Freiberger, editor of the Saturday Evening Herald.

Historical and Literary Manuscripts Collection

George N. Meissner Collection (JAPM)