Collection Highlights

Proposed Coat of Arms for New Amsterdam, New Netherland: Preparatory Drawing for a Presentation to the Dutch West India Company
Date:
ca. 1630
Object Number:
1885.5
Medium:
Black ink and wash, watercolor, red and black chalk, and red gouache, with contours incised by a stylus on laid on paper, mounted on card

SUPPORT THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Help us present groundbreaking exhibitions and develop educational programs about our nation's history for more than 200,000 schoolchildren annually.

DONATE TODAY

collections > Luce Center > Napoleon's Authorization for the Sale of the Louisiana Territory

Museum Collections

back

Luce Center

Napoleon's Authorization for the Sale of the Louisiana Territory

Object Number: 
MSS.Y1803
Date: 
April 24, 1803
Dimensions: 
Overall: 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm)
Gallery Label: 

As the United States minister to France, Chancellor Livingston was tasked with negotiating with Emperor Napoleon for the sale of the Louisiana Territory. This undertaking lasted three years. Livingston’s time in France influenced his taste in furniture, art, and design, and exposed him to technical innovations and new ventures in animal husbandry. The authorization for the sale of the territories marked a turning point in the relationship between the two nations. Livingston famously remarked: “We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives . . . . From this day the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank."

Credit Line: 
New-York Historical Society Library
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
Creative: Tronvig Group