This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Letters, manuscripts, documents, and letterbooks of Jay and of many members of his family. The letters touch on every aspect of American life and government of the period, and contain correspondence from such prominent individuals as John Adams, George Clinton, James Duane, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Rufus King, John Paul Jones, Marquis de Lafayette, Robert B. Livingston, William Livingston, Gouverneur Morris, Robert Morris, Edmund Randolph, Philip Schuyler, and George Washington. There are approximately 500 letters from Jay, primarily drafts of correspondence to the persons listed above, as well as his correspondence as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 1784-1789. The manuscripts and documents include many reports, commissions, and diplomas, as well as a draft copy of THE FEDERALIST Number 5 and Jay's oath of office as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court; also included are manumission documents, and a group of documents from Trinity Church, where his father was a vestryman from 1715 to 1785. The collection includes copies of Jay's letter book as Secretary of State, 10 Oct. 1788-25 Dec. 1792, and of four letters from John Armstrong, 19 June-27 Dec. 1810; and a commercial copy of the pair of silverplated candlesticks from the Treaty of Paris, 3 Sept. 1783, reproduced by the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Rare Book copy: Original manuscript draft of The Federalist number 5 is held in honor of Ira I. Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History and Deputy Director of Columbia World Projects, with gratitude for his outstanding service as Interim Provost of Columbia University from 2019-2021. Item dedicated on June 21, 2021.
This collection is arranged into 5 series.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John Jay papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
The Papers of John Jay is an image database and indexing tool comprising some 13,000 documents (more than 30,000 page images) scanned chiefly from photocopies of original documents. Most of the source material was assembled by Columbia University's John Jay publication project staff during the 1960s and 1970s under the direction of the late Professor Richard B. Morris.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Type of reproduction: Copies in part
Method of acquisition--Gifts, purchases; Date of acquisition--1948. Accession number--M-48.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 07/--/89.
2010-02-15 Legacy finding aid created from Pro Cite.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
American Chief Justice, diplomat.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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