June 8, 1864

Matthew Vassar wrote to the Rev. Elias L. Magoon, a charter trustee, confiming his purchase of Magoon’s art collection as the nucleus for Vassar’s art gallery:

“I am,” he wrote, “to have from you your entire collection as it is—complete—Art itself & all matters relating to art—descriptive historic & otherwise just as it is in your house as I regard all such matter printed & otherwise as making the completeness of your collection for my purposes which are illustrative & educational. We need no express contract—I rely upon you as a christian man.”

Elizabeth Hazelton Haight, ed., The Autobiography and Letters of Matthew Vassar.

This collection, made by Magoon in England and purchased for $20,000, consisted of over 400 oils and water-colors by contemporary artists, American and English, including four original water-colors by Turner. The pictures were accompanied by a library of nearly 1,000 volumes.