Alexander Hamilton

2 pages (8 7/8 x 7 3/8 in.; 227 x 186 mm) on a bifolium, [Philadelphia?, May 1786–April, 1788], autograph address on integral leaf (“Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton | Wall Street | New York”); small seal tear, fore-edge of integral leaf restored, some browning. Tipped to a larger sheet.

The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Syrett, 3:673

2 pages (8 7/8 x 7 3/8 in.; 227 x 186 mm) on a bifolium, [Philadelphia?, May, 1786–April, 1788], autograph address on integral leaf ("Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton | Wall Street | New York"); small seal tear, fore-edge of integral leaf restored, some browning. Tipped to a larger sheet.
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"I feel that it will be impossible for me to submit to a long separation however inconvenient it may be to incur the expence which will attend [you] coming here." Writing, probably, from Philadelphia, Hamilton raises the question of Eliza and the children joining him. “Three or four days since I wrote to My angel by the Post, since which I have received a letter from her. I am very unhappy to hear that my beloved is out of health. Heaven grant it may soon be restored. I entreat her to take care of herself & keep up her spirits. I cannot yet determine what will be our stay here and consequently I can make no determinations about my love; but I feel that it will be impossible for me to submit to a long separation however inconvenient it may be to incur the expence which will attend her coming here. I entreat you my charmer to let me hear from you as often as possible; for I stand in need of every consolation you can give for my absence from your dear bosom. Give my love to my darling Philip & kiss with all possible tenderness the other two. Adieu my dearest angel. Heaven bless you.” It is uncertain why, with two blank pages at his disposal, Hamilton chose to conclude this letter by writing his final five lines longitudinally in the left margin of the first page.

While undated, this letter must have written between the birth of Hamilton and Elizabeth’s third child, Alexander, on 16 May 1786, and the birth of their fourth, James Alexander, on 14 April 1788. Given Hamilton’s reference to a potentially long absence from home, it is entirely possible that the letter was written during his attendance at the Constitutional Convention, May to September 1787.