The project seeks to digitize and make available the letters to, from, and about Abraham Lincoln that are held in the collections of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of Rochester. Almost all of the men shown in the painting above -- Edwin M. Stanton (Secretary of War); Salmon P. Chase, (Secretary of the Treasury); President Lincoln; Gideon Welles (Secretary of the Navy); Caleb B. Smith (Secretary of the Interior); William H. Seward (Secretary of State); Montgomery Blair (Postmaster General) and Edward Bates (Attorney General) -- are represented by at least one manuscript in the collections. These materials are found, for the most part, in the papers of William Henry Seward; the Seward Papers were donated to the University by William Henry Seward III (1945-1951) and Lincoln materials were the gift of the Fred L. Emerson Foundation of Auburn, NY (1987).

Selected transcriptions -- seven score and nine, as of June 18, 2008 -- of the letters are provided, and many more will be added shortly. University of Rochester undergraduate and graduate students from any discipline are welcomed to participate as for-credit interns--transcribing, annotating and writing essays to enhance their, and others, understanding of these primary source documents.

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