Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-05
ORIGINAL LETTERS
TELL j. S. HISTORY
Collection in Rosenbach GAL
leries Constitute Hand Writ
ten Story of America.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, June (N.A.N..A).-A
letter, one Of the most romantic in the
history of the United Statas, signed by
the commanding general Of the patriot
forces Of New England. under the date
line Of Cambridge, April 20, 1775,"
rests in glass case in the Rosenbach
Galleries in this city.
In the same room are other original
letters which constitute the most impor-
tant collection of Americana that has
ever been assembled.
Under the scrutiny of uniformed pri-
vate police the people who come there
can see the first letter ever sent out
from the Americas. Dated 1912, it is
signed by Diego Columbus, son Of the
great navigator, and is addressed to
Cardinal Cisneros. Archbishop of Toledo.
In closely written script Diego tells
OF his desire to expand the new colony
of Spain.
In another glass case, protected from
the overcurious and the ravages Of time,
is the telegram written and signed by
Ulysses s. Grant which announced the
surrender of Gen. Lee at AppomattoX.
1t was scrawled in pencil on leaf from
a borrowed notebook, and is addressed
to Hon. e. M. Stanton, Secretary OF
War. Washington"
Gen. Fit runs, surrendered the
Army of Northern Virginia this after
noon on terms proposed by myself. The
accompanying correspondence will show
the condition fully.
~. 8. GRANT, 1t. Com"
The hundreds of original documents,
| OF which only the most important are
on display, were collected by DR.. A. F.
w. Rosenbach and his agents from all
possible sources. and through the ex-
penditure of unlimited funds. The most
valuable letter cost $5l 900. It Is from
Button Gwinnett, who signed the Dec
laration of Independence as the repre-
sentative Of the Colony of Georgia. and
who apparently wrote few signatures
and fewer letters.
Collectors Outbid Libraries.
According to DR.. Rosenbach, the fact
that he has been able to complete this
| remarkable collection to point which
| approximates a comprehensive hand
written history OF America is due to the
| lack OF State and Government funds of
sufficient amount to outbid wealthy COL
lectors who have made Americana q
| hobby.
Priceless documents, he pointed out,
had early been passed up by librarians
because they did not have the money
to buy. His firm has been invariably
successful bidder at many important
auctions and sales.
To start from the beginning, there Is
| the codex of Bernaldex When Column
bus returned from his second voyage, he
| was the guest of Bernaldez, and, while
| attending the court Of Ferdinand and
Isabella to make his reports, left some
of his notes, which, together with his
personal account. enabled the Spanish
| author to write The Story of Column
bus"
COrtez Makes Report.
CorteZ, conqueror of Mexico, makes
| his report on following parchment and
| tells of discovering Lower California;
while PiZarro, who subjected Peru to
Spanish domination is years later
makes two contributions to the Rosen-
bach collection.
We advance. from case 10 case, to the
French and Indian Wars and finally
| the Revolution, with much pre-war
documentary evidence to nullify or SUBJ
stantiate the history books In 1776,
three days before the Declaration of
Independence, Thomas Jefferson con-
fided on paper to friend that his draft
would probably be accepted. Then
there IS the original draft of the Dec