Object Details
- associated person
- Hamilton, Alexander
- Description
- Alexander Hamilton’s thick mahogany travel desk was made to stand up to constant use. It unfolds in the center to provide a large, slanted writing surface and includes a side drawer and slots for writing accoutrements. The English-made desk dates to sometime between 1780 and 1804, the end of Hamilton’s life. Hamilton’s writing box remained with his descendants until they presented it to the National Museum in 1916.
- Hamilton is best known for his service in the Revolutionary War and his role as the first Secretary of the Treasury. Throughout his lifetime Hamilton kept up a continuous stream of correspondence, military papers, cabinet papers, treasury records and political commentary. Most famously he authored 51 of the 85 essays of The Federalist Papers in just eight months. Hamilton knew the power of the written word and strove to use it to its fullest. A writing desk would have been one of his most important tools throughout his lifetime.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Allan McLane Hamilton through Library of Congress
- ID Number
- PL.016507
- catalog number
- 16507
- accession number
- 59850
- Object Name
- Desk
- See more items in
- Political History: Political History, General History Collection
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_528509
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a3-5af6-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
