Description:

Nathaniel Thayer
Boston, MA, August 2, 1866
Atlantic Cable and Nathaniel Thayer, "What a wonderful thing the telegram is..."
ALS
Autograph Letter Signed, "N. Thayer", 4pp, on light blue bifold stationery measuring 5.25" x 8.25", Boston, Massachusetts, August 2, 1866. Expected mailing folds and creases. Light toning. Minor edge wear. In near fine condition.

To Dr. Peabody, in full:

"I was most happy to learn by your letter that your trip thus far had been so pleasant, and trust it may continue to be so, and have not doubt, it will be of great advantage to you, in every respect. As to your own family I need not write, as you hear from them by each summer. My own family are quite well and spending the summer at Lancaster - very quietly Rensselaer entered college and I trust will do well. I cannot tell you how much gratified I have been by his whole course since his return. If I get nothing else from the Agassiz expedition I am fully repaid for everything I did for it. [In 1865, Louis Agassiz led a 15-month expedition to Brazil to study the distribution of freshwater fish species. The expedition was financed by Thayer.]

You will have seen the account of commencement at Cambridge, I need hardly say to you that I was much gratified, for it would be silly in me to pretend that I do not appreciate the honors I received and for which I trust I may be able to make some return.

The Atlantic Cable appears to work at last, and will make you feel that after all, you are not far from home. What a wonderful thing the telegram is, and it is to be hoped that bringing nations and people so near together, may tend to civilize & Christianize them. Do not forget, that in addition to going wherever you feel inclined, & picking up whatever you feel inclined for yourself, you are expected to bring home for your wife & daughter whatever you can purchase that will most gratify them."

Nathaniel Thayer Jr. (1808-1883) was an American financier and philanthropist. He was known as the "honest banker" because he sold money at the legal rate unlike most, for the time. Thayer retired in 1865, sold his business to his partners, and lived mostly at the Nathaniel Thayer Estate in Lancaster, Massachusetts, as he was said to prefer the "woods and fields to the streets and crowds". The Estate was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 5.25" x 8.25"
  • Medium: ALS

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