Photographs and illustrations throughout 178 pages with index, bibliography, reference, etc.

The Filson began collecting historical material soon after its founding, when no other Kentucky institution was doing so. With many of its early members belonging to Kentucky's oldest and most prominent families, The Filson was able to begin assembling an important collection of original letters, diaries, business records, and other primary sources. Its holdings for the late eighteenth through mid nineteenth centuries are unrivaled in Kentucky. The collection focuses on Kentucky, the Ohio Valley, and the Upper South, but is national and even international in scope. Its unique holdings are an essential primary source for scholars. Highlights include the Pleasant Hill Shaker records, Lewis and Clark Expedition letters, Henry Clay letters, George Rogers Clark's Mason letter, and the two earliest known documents written and signed by Daniel Boone. To these must be added hundreds of other collections documenting America's economic, military, political, and social history which give The Filson Historical Society the finest collection of pioneer, antebellum, and Civil War manuscripts in Kentucky.