Page "Peter Force" Paragraph 4

His greatest achievement came as a collector and editor of historical documents.

He published Tracts and Other Papers, Relating Principally to the Origin, Settlement, and Progress of the Colonies in North America ( 4 vol Washington, 1836 – 1846 ), which comprised rare pamphlets.

His American Archives was a collection of the most important documents of the American Revolution, 1774 – 1776.

Twenty large folio volumes were planned but only the first 9 volumes were published between 1837 and 1853.

Force's lifelong desire to contribute to the American national library finally came to fruition in 1867 when Congress purchased his collection of original documents for $ 100, 000, augmenting the expansion of the Library of Congress conducted by Ainsworth Rand Spofford, who directed the Library from 1865 to 1897.