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#33 Ferry Avenue,
Detroit, Michigan,
January 26th, 1906.

Richard Rathbun, Esq.,
Acting Secretary, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, U.S.A.

My dear Sir:--

I am honoured by the receipt of your telegram of the 24th instant, also your letter of the same date transmitting a copy of a resolution adopted at the Annual Meeting of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, held during the morning of January 24th, 1906.

I need not attempt to tell you how pleased I am to know of the acceptance of the offer of my Art Collections by the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution under the conditions named in my communication to President Roosevelt, dated December 15th, 1905.

Let me add that a list or inventory of the collections is now in progress and I hope to have it completed about the first of April, at which time the inventory can be delivered, and the exact form of all necessary legal documents can be agreed upon by counsel representing the Institution and myself.

Let me further say, that a codicil to my will will be made tomorrow of a nature calculated to protect the Smithsonian Institution against contingencies that might arise between now and the time of the preparation and execution of legal papers. 

Very respectfully yours,