The second collection in point of size was made by the late John C. Reed of Atlanta, in 1906, from among the papers belonging to the estate of Alexander H. Stephens. Colonel Reed's intention was to use these letters, most of which were written by Toombs to Stephens, in the preparation of a biography of Toombs. For a time Colonel Reed, at the instance of the present editor, also contemplated prepar ing these letters for documentary publication; but he found himself unable to decipher them satisfactorily. Colonel Reed's failing health, followed by his death in January, 1910, put an end to his project for a life of Toombs. The Reed collection consists almost wholly of letters written to Alexander H. Stephens. More than half were written by Robert Toombs, and most of the remainder were from Thomas W. Thomas, Howell Cobb, and Joseph E. Brown. All of the important letters in the Reed collection (more than three-fourths of the whole number of them) are here printed. They are designated by the letter R at the heading of each.