ALS, one black-bordered page, 4.75 x 7.25, May 15, 1855. Letter to antiquarian Samuel Gardner Drake, in full: "Your kind note of the 7th inst. inviting me to visit the rooms & Library of the Hist. Genealogical Society, was received too late to enable me to accept the invitation or even reply before leaving Boston, which I sincerely regret. With many thanks for your polite invitation I am in great haste." In very good to fine condition, with an old tape repair on the back of a tear to the lower left corner, and old mounting remnants on the back of the blank integral leaf. In 1828, Drake established an antiquarian bookstore—the first of its kind in the United States—and devoted himself to the study of early United States history. He was one of the founders of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, was its president in 1858, and for many years was the editor of its quarterly Register.Format: ALS