Letter from H. Meigs to Asbury Dickens, Secretary of the Columbian Institutue, March 7, 1823

NYork March 7. 1823. D [[superscript]] r [[/superscript]] Sir. I have received from D [[superscript]] r [[/superscript]] Mitchill a box of minerals for the Institute, which I will send to you by one of the earliest opportunities by water. It has not been in my power to obtain them sooner, nor did I urge the delivery of them during the winter, because I should not have been able to send them to you before the opening of navigation in your rivers. As I did not see these specimens on their arrival from Italy, it is impossible for me to say whether they are all contained in this box, but I understand from D[[superscript]]r[[/superscript]] Mitchill that there were many specimens of the same varieties, some of which specimens were given as presents by Commodore Stewart. But that enough remain to complete the original assortment. I am with great respect Yr. Ob. Ser [[superscript]] t [[/superscript]] H. Meigs. Asbury Dickins Esquire.

[[paper in landscape format, folded to form three panels]] [[first panel]] Communicated 5 April 1823 and read. [[line]] [[/first panel]] [[second panel]] From H. Meigs to the Secretary of the Columbian Institute, relative to a box of minerals. dated March 7, 1823. [[double line]] Communicated and read, 5[[superscript]]th[[/superscript]]. April, 1823. [[double line]] [paper rotated through 180 degrees]] [[image - ornamentation, looks like 18V]] [[stamped]] NEW-YORK MAR 7 [[/stamped]] Asbury Dickins Esquire. Secretary of the Columbian Institute Washington City. [[/second panel]] [[third panel]] [[blank panel]]