The Details:
Letter, George P. Brinley and J. Hammond Trumbull to Stephen Salisbury II, February 24, 1879. AAS Archives. [catalog record]
The Story:
Few letters have proven as momentous for the AAS collections as this one. After the death of George Brinley, the heirs resolved to auction off the book collection at a series of sales. In order to allow libraries to compete, five favored institutions were offered generous sale credit. This letter notified the Society of its share of $5,000. AAS secured 1,151 books and 1,544 pamphlets of choice early Americana thanks to Brinley’s creative generosity.
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Bookbinding (Papantonio) in Case 6
