“Letters from a Spy”: James Jay, 1808

The university’s James Jay letter (1808) is featured in the August 2, 2012 edition of The Village Times Herald. James Jay (1732 -1815), American physician and politician, and elder brother of John Jay, supplied medicines to George Washington during the American Revolutionary War and developed an invisible ink used by Washington, Thomas Jefferson, his younger brother, John Jay, and members of the Culper Spy Ring.

Historian and author Beverly C. Tyler writes, “With the acquisition of an 1808 letter…Special Collections and University Archives at Stony Brook University has again acquired a valuable Revolutionary-War era document.”

Please click here to access the entire article (page A9) and visit the website of Special Collections and University Archives for more information about this letter.

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Kristen Nyitray

Associate Librarian; Director, Special Collections and University Archives; and University Archivist at Stony Brook University Libraries

Contact her for research assistance with rare books, manuscript collections, historical maps, and SBU history. E-mail: kristen.nyitray@stonybrook.edu.

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