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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Am 1556-1556.1

Abbott Lawrence papers

Overview

Private letters and dispatches written and received by Massachusetts congressman Abbott Lawrence while he was serving as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the U.S. in London.

Dates

  • Creation: 1849-1852

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

Extent

2.5 linear feet (10 volumes)

This collection centers on Lawrence's tenure as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the U.S. in London. It contains transcripts of official dispatches between Lawrence and Secretaries of State, John Middleton Clayton and Daniel Webster; Lawrence's private correspondence, also on matters of state; and invitations and cards he received while in England. Included (see index in each vol.) is much discussion of plans for a joint U.S.-British interoceanic canal through Central America. Also (in vol. 4) copies of speeches and letters, 1837-1842, on the protective tariff. .

Biographical / Historical

Lawrence, a merchant, textile manufacturer, railroad promoter, Massachusetts congressman, and diplomat, was the U.S. minister to England (1849-1852).

Arrangement

Organized into the following series:

  1. I. MS Am 1556: Papers
  2. II. MS Am 1556.1: Additional papers

Physical Location

f

Immediate Source of Acquisition

*58M-184. Gift of Mrs R. D. Fay, 177 Coolidge Hill, Cambridge 38, Massachusetts; received: 1959 March 2.

Title
Lawrence, Abbott, 1792-1855. Abbott Lawrence papers, 1849-1852: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01120

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

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