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Eighteen letters of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, friend of Queen Anne, wife of the great English military commander, and ancestress of Sir Winston Churchill. The letters contain comments on the political events of the day, particularly the Jacobite cause, the building of Blenheim Palace, and family affairs. The letters were the subject of an article"The Duchess Speaks Her Mind" by Dallas Pratt in the "Columbia Library Columns" May 1965, pp. 27-42. There are also letters by Jonathan Swift, 13 May 1740; John Constable, 14 Dec. 1833 and 18 Dec. 1834; George W. Wales, 22 Jan. 1859; and a document signed by Louis XIV, 13 Oct. 1705. In addition, there are nine original photographs of Rupert Brooke, taken in London, 1913, by the American photographer Sherril Schell, as well as a photostatic copy of poems from the Rugby notebook of Rupert Brooke. A printed poem by Dallas Pratt has been added

Correspondence and legal and business papers of Peter Van Schaack and his family. The collection includes letters to and from Egbert Benson, Henry Cruger, James Duane, William Laight, Theodore Sedgwick, Peter Silvester, John Vardill, and many others. The letters deal with such subjects as taxation, the siege of Boston, George Washington, Tories, the Jay Treaty, Shays' Rebellion, and the many prominent people with whom Van Schaack was acquainted, including the Jay family and Gouverneur Morris. There is a large number of letters to and from his brother, Henry Van Schaack (1733-1823). The correspondence contains many political and social opinions regarding America and England before, during, and after the Revolutionary War. Many of the legal documents concern the disputed claims to the Van Rensselaer properties in Claverack and Westenhook, N.Y., as well as land claims around Kinderhoek, N.Y. Henry Cruger Van Schaack added to the collection more letters from well-known people as well as legal and family papers. These are mostly dated in the mid-19th century, and deal in part with the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, the Berkshire Iron Works, and similar business ventures. Many documents are Colonial-era deeds or concern early land disputes such as the New York-Massachusetts boundary dispute.