This is an order issued by Governor Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, January 3, 1793. It is part of the extensive Rosemonde E. and Emile Kuntz Collection (Manuscripts Collection 600), gift of Felix H. Kuntz.

Unlike a book, which is usually printed in quantity, a manuscript is a unique item, such as a letter or diary, that exists nowhere else in the world.

A manuscript can be a valuable historical artifact because of signature or association. Tulane holds hundreds of such documents either of local importance, such as William C.C. Claiborne's commission as governor of the Territory of Orleans signed by both Jefferson and James Madison, or of national importance, such as George Washington's letters to James McHenry concerning the formation of the early United States Army.

Many collections preserved by the Manuscripts Department pertain to the political history of our region. For example, preserved here are the papers of United States Representative Lindy Boggs, Hale Boggs, David Treen, and F. Edward Hebert. The department also preserves the gubernatorial papers of Sam Jones and David Treen, papers of Mayor of New Orleans Chep Morrison, and many other political collections.

The holdings of the Manuscripts Department also extend beyond politics to include the social and cultural history of our region. For example, the department has important holdings revealing the contributions of Jews to the history of the South, such as synagogue records and records of Jewish women's organizations. Other collections about society and culture include the Southern States Art league Records, Records of the Council of Social Agencies, New Orleans Municipal Records, papers of writer George Washington Cable, and papers about artist Edgar DeGas and the DeGas-Musson Family. Such collections are central not only to historical studies, but to sociology, geography, literature, art history, and many other disciplines.

• The papers of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy

• George Washington's Letter on Civil and Religious Liberty to the Reformed Church of New York; 1783.

• Robert E. Lee's Gettysburg letters. The series of letters describe the battle as it unfolds. The last letter offers Lee's explanation of why he lost.

• George Washington's letters to James McHenry, first Secretary of War, creating the first United States army

• Robert E. Lee's famous "Last Letter" to Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, in which Lee says "Could I have directed events, I should have chosen for the good of the country to have been disabled in your stead."

• William Penn's thank-you note to Charles II (1683), thanking him "for his many Royal favors conferred upon me, more especially, this of Pennsilvania [sic]."