Camp Parole, Annapolis, Maryland: 1864. Unbound. Bi-fold Magnus song-letter sheet. Color illustration of Libby Prison along with lyrics to “In the Libby Prison Sadly.” Three pages of text. Couple of toning spots along fold. No mailing envelope. Transcript provided. In this letter to his sweetheart, Almeda, McArtye cryptically... More about A parolee’s cryptic letter with an original poem written on an attractive Libby Prison letter...

Factory Island, Grand Bassa, [Liberia]: 1842. Envelope or Cover. This three-page stampless folded letter measures 16” x 10” unfolded. It is datelined, “Factory Island, Grand Bassa / July 13th 1842”. It is addressed to Benjamin Coates in Philadelphia and bears an octagonal “6” arrival handstamp. The letter is intact; however... More about Letter from Dr. Wesley Johnson, the former governor of the Grand Bassa Colony in Liberia to...

Moquolumne Hill, California to Plymouth, New Hampshire: 1851. Unbound. This three-page stampless folded letter measures 15.5” x 9.75” unfolded. The letter is datelined “Moquolumne Hill Oct the 22nd 1851.” It bears no postmark so undoubtedly ‘favor carried,’ probably by a returning miner. It is complete with a few small holes..... More about Detailed letter from a miner at the most infamous of all California Gold Rush camps, Mokelumne Hill

San Francisco: July 1849. Envelope or Cover. This three-page stampless letter measures about 15.5” x 10” unfolded. It bears a circular “San Francisco Cal.” postmark with a manuscript “40” postal rate (the price to mail a letter from the Pacific coast to anywhere else in the United States) and a...... More about Letter from an early Forty-Niner ship captain describing his arduous voyage and the chaos in San...

New Philadelphia, Ohio: 1862. Unbound. This two-page letter, written by Hyatt Frost of Van Amburgh’s Circus, discusses financial matters related to the Frost family farm in Harrisburg, Indiana, and Hyatt’s brother Eli, who also—on occasion—worked for the Van Amburgh show. The letter is enclosed in a Van Amburgh..... More about ADVERTISING ENVELOPE FOR VAN AMBURGH’S MAMMOTH MENAGERIE AND GREAT MORAL EXHIBITION WITH A...

Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia: 1861-1862. Envelope or Cover. Ten letters sent by a private in the 1st Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, later the 1st Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment. They begin with the unit’s creation in June 1861 and continue through May 1862. During this time the unit first mustered at... More about One year of letters home written by soldier in a three-month volunteer unit that defended...

Oroville, California: 1859 and 1862. Unbound. One letter is dated October 16, 1858; the other, June 28, 1862. No mailing envelopes. The first letter has a few small holes at the intersection of some mailing folds. Notice one old near invisible repair to a short split along a mailing fold... More about Two letters from a gold seeker whose wagon train was attacked by Mormons and Paiutes shortly...

Redwood City, California: October 15, 1940. Unbound. This typed letter, dated 17 October 1940 and signed by a prominent Issei member of California’s Japanese-American community presents a 2’ x 4’ silk U.S. flag to an unnamed person, presumably a government official or journalist. Both are in nice shape; the display... More about A flag and letter presented to an official or journalist by a California Issei who would later be...

Sent to Samuel Helme at Tower Hill (now South Kingston), Rhode Island: 1794. Envelope or Cover. This two-page stampless letter measures approximately 6.5” x 7.75”. It is dated “May the 2: 1794” and sent by Samuel Potter in reply to a letter from Samuel Helme at Tower Hill, Rhode Island... More about An astonishing (by today’s standards) 18th century letter from the Deputy Governor of Rhode...

Fort Direction (Macon), Georgia to Greensboro, Alabama: March 25, 1865. Envelope or Cover. This three-page letter was sent by Lanier to Waller just one week before the fall of Richmond and two weeks before Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Its envelope is annotated on the front “Paid on the other side,”..... More about A mysterious, tongue-in-cheek letter from an Alabama Cavalry Sergeant to an Alabama Infantry...

Washington, DC: 1861-1863. Unbound. Six letters to family members at home, four from 1861 and two from 1863. One of the letters has its original envelope. All of the letters are complete except one that is missing its final page. The handwriting is legible. Three of the letters are written... More about Collection of six Civil War letters from a soldier who served from April of 1861 until he was...

Various locations: mostly 1865. Unbound. Nine letters written to Stephen H. Gregory, a member of D Company, 39th New York Volunteer Infantry. Eight were written during April and May of 1865 while Gregory was recovering from wounds at the Homewood Hospital in Washington D. C. The ninth letter is pre-war... More about SMALL ARCHIVE OF CIVIL WAR LETTERS WRITTEN TO A WOUNDED MEMBER OF THE 39TH NEW YORK VOLUNTEER...

Camp Sibley (Henderson) and Fairmount, Minnesota: 1862 and 1863. Unbound. Stephens' first letter—on campaign stationery featuring John Fremont—was written from Camp Sible, Lower Sioux Agency. Its patriotic envelope-featuring the popular song, The Girl I Left Behind Me—was postmarked at Henderson, Minnesota on November 5, [1862]. The letter is in nice..... More about Two letters from a Minnesota militiaman who fought against the Sioux follow their barbarous...