ABRAHAM LINCOLNBiblio.com
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1845réf. 28226A master storyteller and talented mimic Lincoln's humor was the product of his upbringing in the frontiers of Kentucky Indiana and Illinois where tall tales and exaggeration were key ingredients to good jokes and effective tools in the courtrooms and legislative halls. For some it made him more appealing and approachable to the common man. For others his coarse backwoods humor was undignified reinforcing their belief that he was unfit to be president. This manuscript utilizes a series of "spoonerisms" in which the storyteller transposes the first few letters of two adjacent or nearby words for humorous effect. Its namesake Rev. William Archibald Spooner of New College Oxford University was allegedly prone to unintentionally making such mistakes in speaking Complete Transcript He said he was riding bass-ackwards on a jass-ack through a patton-cotch on a pair of baddle-sags stuffed full of binger-gred when the animal steered at a scump and the lirrup-steather broke and throwed him in the forner of the kence and broke his pishing-fole. He said he would not have minded it much but hefell right in a great tow-curd; in fact he said it give him aright smart sick of fitnesshe had the molera-corbus pretty bad. He said about bray dake he come to himself ran home seized up a stick of wood and split the axe to make a light rushed into the house and found the door sick abed and his wife standing open. But thank goodness she is getting right hat and farty again. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Autograph Manuscript "Bass-Ackwards" story ca. 1845-1850 Springfield IL. 1 p. 7 x 8.5 in. Historical Background C. F. Gunther of Chicago told Jesse W. Weik that Lincoln penned this for a bailiff in the Springfield courts. It was first published by Emanuel Hertz in The Hidden Lincoln in 1938. It once belonged to the Illinois State Historical Library in Springfield which traded it for a first edition of the Book of Mormon. According to auctioneer Charles Hamilton one collector considered it so unworthy of Lincoln's sacred memory he bid intending to burn it! Fortunately he lost. Provenance Abraham Lincoln to a bailiff of a Springfield court reportedly Arnold R. Robinson > The Illinois State Historical Library gift of a descendant > Charles Hamilton Galleries May 16 1963. See account in Hamilton Auction Madness 119: "This unsigned bit of Lincolniana was knocked down for $4000 at one of my earliest auctions nearly twenty years ago. What would it fetch today!" > Lindley and Charles Eberstadt > Parke-Bernet Galleries Eberstadt sale October 13 1964 lot 124 described as being "the most intimate and unusual Lincoln document known to survive" and "perhaps the greatest Presidential character piece extant" > Christie's a Western Collector December 9 1994 lot 84 > Louise Taper Beverly Hills California > The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Foundation 2007 > Freeman's/Hindman May 21 2025 lot 21. Exhibitions The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America at the Huntington Library October 1993-August 1994 Abraham Lincoln: A Personal Journey at the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum October 12 2001February 18 2002 Condition: Silked; creasing from folds; small losses along folds affecting a few letters; small marginal loss in upper right corner not affecting text; scattered spotting.
1836réf. 24346.991836. No binding. Fine. Autograph Letter Signed to Mary S. Owens December 13 1836 2 pp. 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. ""Write back as soon as you get this and if possible say something that will please me for really I have not been pleased since I left you.""Here Lincoln perfectly demonstrates what Owens later described as deficiencies ""in those little links which make up the chain of a woman's happiness."" Rather than expressing his feelings for Owens Lincoln complains about his health and discusses political issues swirling in the Illinois General Assembly. Although inept at love the letter offers rare insight into the young representative's thoughts on a variety of political issues. In this highly important letter to Mary Owens a self-absorbed Lincoln complains to his potential spouse of his health both physical and mental and discusses political issues to the point that he describes his own letter as ""dry and stupid."" Perhaps more revealing than he realized it illustrates the tension in Lincoln's early life between matters of the head with which he was comfortable and matters of the heart with which he clearly was not. Complete Transcript Vandalia Decr 13. 1836Mary I have been sick ever since my arrival here or I should have written sooner. It is but little difference however as I have verry little even yet to write. And more the longer I can avoid the mortification of looking in the Post Office for your letter and not finding it the better. You see I am mad about that old letter yet. I dont like verry well to risk you again. I'll try you once more anyhow. The new State House is not yet finished and consequently the legislature is doing little or nothing. The Governor delivered an inflamitory political message and it is expected there will be some sparring between the parties about it as soon as the two Houses get to business. Taylor delivered up his petitions for the New County to one of our members this morning. I am told that he despairs of its success on account of all the members from Morgan County opposing it. There are names enough on the petitions I think to justify the members from our county in going for it; but if the members from Morgan oppose it which they say they will the chance will be bad. Our chance to take the seat of Government to Springfield is better than I expected. An Internal Improvement Convention was held here since we met which recommended a loan of several millions of dollars on the faith of the state to construct Rail Roads. Some of the legislature are for it and some against it; which has the majority I can <2> not tell. There is great strife and struggling for the office of U.S. Senator here at this time. It is probable we shall ease their pains in a few days. The opposition men have no candidate of their own and consequently they smile as complacently at the angry snarls of the contending Van Buren candidates and their respective friends as the Christian does at Satan's rage. You recollect I mentioned in the outset of this letter that I had been unwell. That is the fact though I belive I am about well now; but that with other things I can not account for have conspired and have gotten my spirits so low that I feel that I would rather be any place in the world than here. I really can not endure the thought of staying here ten weeks. Write back as soon as you get this and if possible say something that will please me for really I have not been pleased since I left you. This letter is so dry and stupid that I am ashamed to send it but with my present feelings I can not do any better. Give my respects to Mr & Mrs Abell and family. Your friend LincolnMiss Mary S. OwensHistoric BackgroundThis is one of the ten oldest Lincoln letters known to have survived. Although 11 leaves 9 of which are in institutions from Lincoln's educational sum book a few documents written or signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1832 relating to his service in the Black Hawk War again mos. See website for full description
1836réf. 24346.991836. No binding. Fine. Autograph Letter Signed to Mary S. Owens December 13 1836 2 pp. 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. ""Write back as soon as you get this and if possible say something that will please me for really I have not been pleased since I left you.""Here Lincoln perfectly demonstrates what Owens later described as deficiencies ""in those little links which make up the chain of a woman's happiness."" Rather than expressing his feelings for Owens Lincoln complains about his health and discusses political issues swirling in the Illinois General Assembly. Although inept at love the letter offers rare insight into the young representative's thoughts on a variety of political issues. In this highly important letter to Mary Owens a self-absorbed Lincoln complains to his potential spouse of his health both physical and mental and discusses political issues to the point that he describes his own letter as ""dry and stupid."" Perhaps more revealing than he realized it illustrates the tension in Lincoln's early life between matters of the head with which he was comfortable and matters of the heart with which he clearly was not. Complete Transcript Vandalia Decr 13. 1836Mary I have been sick ever since my arrival here or I should have written sooner. It is but little difference however as I have verry little even yet to write. And more the longer I can avoid the mortification of looking in the Post Office for your letter and not finding it the better. You see I am mad about that old letter yet. I dont like verry well to risk you again. I'll try you once more anyhow. The new State House is not yet finished and consequently the legislature is doing little or nothing. The Governor delivered an inflamitory political message and it is expected there will be some sparring between the parties about it as soon as the two Houses get to business. Taylor delivered up his petitions for the New County to one of our members this morning. I am told that he despairs of its success on account of all the members from Morgan County opposing it. There are names enough on the petitions I think to justify the members from our county in going for it; but if the members from Morgan oppose it which they say they will the chance will be bad. Our chance to take the seat of Government to Springfield is better than I expected. An Internal Improvement Convention was held here since we met which recommended a loan of several millions of dollars on the faith of the state to construct Rail Roads. Some of the legislature are for it and some against it; which has the majority I can <2> not tell. There is great strife and struggling for the office of U.S. Senator here at this time. It is probable we shall ease their pains in a few days. The opposition men have no candidate of their own and consequently they smile as complacently at the angry snarls of the contending Van Buren candidates and their respective friends as the Christian does at Satan's rage. You recollect I mentioned in the outset of this letter that I had been unwell. That is the fact though I belive I am about well now; but that with other things I can not account for have conspired and have gotten my spirits so low that I feel that I would rather be any place in the world than here. I really can not endure the thought of staying here ten weeks. Write back as soon as you get this and if possible say something that will please me for really I have not been pleased since I left you. This letter is so dry and stupid that I am ashamed to send it but with my present feelings I can not do any better. Give my respects to Mr & Mrs Abell and family. Your friend LincolnMiss Mary S. OwensHistoric BackgroundThis is one of the ten oldest Lincoln letters known to have survived. Although 11 leaves 9 of which are in institutions from Lincoln's educational sum book a few documents written or signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1832 relating to his service in the Black Hawk War again mos. See website for full description books
1847réf. 21117.99A list of stockholders entirely in Lincoln's hand filed as evidence in his first significant railroad case. Lincoln's own appearance in the shareholder list represents only the second known instance of a stock purchase by the future president. The Illinois Supreme Court's ultimate ruling in favor of Lincoln and the railroad set an important legal precedent upholding the binding nature of a stockholder's contractual and financial obligations. "The decision subsequently cited in twenty-five other cases throughout the United States helped establish the principle that corporation charters could be altered in the public interest and it established Lincoln as one of the most prominent and successful Illinois practitioners of railroad law" Donald p.155. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.Autograph Manuscript Signed by Lincoln in text constituting his official transcript of the "Subscription Book of the Capital Stock of the Alton and Sangamon Rail Road Company" incorporated February 27 1847 transcribed in early 1851. Comprising a cover sheet titled in Lincoln's hand the joint stock subscription statement and list of 91 shareholders with the number of shares subscribed and leaf with Lincoln's legal docket: "Alton and Sangamon Railroad Company vs. James A. Barret. Copy of contents of subscription book." 8 pp. 6â… x 8¼ x ¼ in. Historical Background The Alton and Sangamon Rail Road Company was chartered in 1847 to construct a line from Alton via New Berlin to Springfield. In 1850 however the Illinois General Assembly approved a more direct route bypassing the landholdings of some investors. Claiming breach of contract James A. Barret refused to make further installment payments for his 30 shares of stock as did several others who no longer stood to benefit from the new line. In 1851 Lincoln was hired to compel the defaulting shareholders to pay the balance of their promised investment. The tactical details are spelled out in a February 19 1851 letter from Lincoln to William Martin a commissioner for the sale of the company's stock. Four suits were to be brought against stockholders who had subscribed to the initial offering but had then failed to make the additional installment payments. In preparation Lincoln listed the essential documents he would need in order to win a judgment. "We must prove" he advised Martin "that the defendant is a Stockholder" "that the calls have been made" and "that due notice of the calls has been given." To show that the defendants were in fact stockholders Lincoln explained he needed to produce "the subscription book with the defendant's name and proof of the genuineness of the signature together with any competent parole or evidence that he made the advance payment" Basler 2:99. Lincoln's meticulous transcript of the subscription book was a key piece of the evidence filed in Sangamon Circuit Court on February 22 1851. The book includes Barret's name and the subscription statement transcribed by Lincoln on page two is explicit about the shareholders' obligations. We the subscribers to the Capital Stock of the Alton and Sangamon Rail Road Company.do hereby agree.to pay the balance of the installments due on said stock by us subscribed when the same may be called for by the board of Directors of said Company when duly organized in conformity with the Charter approved February 27th 1847. "A. Lincoln" with six shares for $600 is prominent among the 91 subscriber names. The only other known record of a Lincoln stock purchase dates from 1836 when he bought one share in the Beardstown and Sangamon Canal. In June of 1847 as head of a committee to promote subscriptions for the projected railroad Lincoln wrote an open letter to the "People of Sangamon County" appealing for their support. Railroad construction was booming and Lincoln anticipated that a line between Springfield and Alton would prove a lucrative investment for himself and his state. "The whole is a matter of pecuniary interest" he argued. "The proper question for us is whether with reference to the present and the future and to direct and indirect results it is our interest to subscribe. If it can be shown that it is we hope few will refuse" Basler 1:396-398. The list of subscribers is itself of considerable interest. It includes John Hay 1775-1865 the grandfather of Lincoln's later secretary John Hay 2 shares Ninian W. Edwards 1809-1889 husband of Mary Todd Lincoln's sister 20 shares John T. Stuart 1807-1885 Lincoln's law partner 5 shares Henry Yates 1786-1865 father of Illinois governor Richard Yates 10 shares Noah W. Matheny 1815-1877 clerk of Sangamon County and others. In the subscription book Henry Yates hedging his bets has added a condition beneath his name: "if the Road intersects the M. & S R R at New Berlin." Lincoln was mindful of the critical issues raised by the Alton and Sangamon lawsuits and "took extraordinary pains to construct an airtight case for his client" Donald p.155. To Martin he pointed out the legal issues adding "I have labored hard to find the law" in preparation for the trials. In the end two of the defaulting stockholders paid their delinquent calls. The suits against James A. Barret and Joseph Klein came to trial in the Sangamon Circuit Court in August of 1851 with Lincoln handling both the trials and the appeals for the railroad. Lincoln's preparation proved its worth – the rulings were in favor of the railroad. "Illinois Supreme Court Justice Samuel H. Treat ruled that public utility superseded private profit. If Barret had won the case other stockholders would balk at fulfilling their obligations. The rule of caveat emptor protected corporate management from stockholder's personal interests and encouraged subsequent investment" Lincoln Legal Briefs Oct-Dec 1990 no. 16 online. At the time he transcribed this document Lincoln was an attorney on the 8th Judicial Circuit and also managed a thriving appellate and federal court practice. He handled a number of railroad-related cases representing both private individuals as well as the railroads themselves. He was not as some have argued a hired gun for corporate interests. Rather as his law partner William Herndon described him Lincoln was "purely and entirely a case lawyer." The fact that Lincoln despite his commitment to railroading often handled suits against the carriers casts light on his understanding of the lawyer's role in society…He simply could not afford to take only one side in legal disputes. Nor did Lincoln pursue some political or philosophical agenda through litigation. He was not concerned with developing a consistent legal ideology. His business as Donald reminds us "was law not morality." James W. Ely "Lincoln as Railroad Attorney" Indiana Historical Society Symposium April 15-16 2005 Though a prominent lawyer Lincoln was still smarting over recent political defeats. Elected to the U.S. Congress in 1846 he had served out his term but his outspoken opposition to the Mexican-American War had cost him any chance at a second term. He subsequently failed in his attempt to become commissioner of the General Land Office. Lincoln declined an appointment as governor of the Oregon Territory instead returning to his law practice with William H. Herndon in Springfield Illinois. He would not attempt a political comeback until 1854. The rail line was ultimately highly profitable. Lincoln's overriding belief in the broader benefits of internal improvements is best expressed in a speech he delivered before Congress in 1848. Let the nation take hold of the larger works and the states the smaller ones; and thus working in a meeting direction discreetly but steadily and firmly what is made unequal in one place may be equalized in another extravagance avoided and the whole country put on that career of prosperity which shall correspond with it's extent of territory it's natural resources and the intelligence and enterprize of it's people. books
1851réf. 27561A list of stockholders entirely in Lincoln's hand filed as evidence in his first significant railroad case. Lincoln's own appearance in the shareholder list represents only the second known instance of a stock purchase by the future president. The Illinois Supreme Court's ultimate ruling in favor of Lincoln and the railroad set an important legal precedent upholding the binding nature of a stockholder's contractual and financial obligations. "The decision subsequently cited in twenty-five other cases throughout the United States helped establish the principle that corporation charters could be altered in the public interest and it established Lincoln as one of the most prominent and successful Illinois practitioners of railroad law" Donald p.155. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Autograph Manuscript Signed by Lincoln in text constituting his official transcript of the "Subscription Book of the Capital Stock of the Alton and Sangamon Rail Road Company" incorporated February 27 1847 transcribed in early 1851. Comprising a cover sheet titled in Lincoln's hand the joint stock subscription statement and list of 91 shareholders with the number of shares subscribed and leaf with Lincoln's legal docket: "Alton and Sangamon Railroad Company vs. James A. Barret. Copy of contents of subscription book." 8 pp. 6 x 8¼ x ¼ in. With Lincoln's original stock certificate for the six shares noted in his manuscript. One of only two instances of his owning a stock and the only certificate of his known to survive. Historical Background The Alton and Sangamon Rail Road Company was chartered in 1847 to construct a line from Alton via New Berlin to Springfield. In 1850 however the Illinois General Assembly approved a more direct route bypassing the landholdings of some investors. Claiming breach of contract James A. Barret refused to make further installment payments for his 30 shares of stock as did several others who no longer stood to benefit from the new line. In 1851 Lincoln was hired to compel the defaulting shareholders to pay the balance of their promised investment. The tactical details are spelled out in a February 19 1851 letter from Lincoln to William Martin a commissioner for the sale of the company's stock. Four suits were to be brought against stockholders who had subscribed to the initial offering but had then failed to make the additional installment payments. In preparation Lincoln listed the essential documents he would need in order to win a judgment. "We must prove" he advised Martin "that the defendant is a Stockholder" "that the calls have been made" and "that due notice of the calls has been given." To show that the defendants were in fact stockholders Lincoln explained he needed to produce "the subscription book with the defendant's name and proof of the genuineness of the signature together with any competent parole or evidence that he made the advance payment" Basler 2:99. Lincoln's meticulous transcript of the subscription book was a key piece of the evidence filed in Sangamon Circuit Court on February 22 1851. The book includes Barret's name and the subscription statement transcribed by Lincoln on page two is explicit about the shareholders' obligations. We the subscribers to the Capital Stock of the Alton and Sangamon Rail Road Company.do hereby agree.to pay the balance of the installments due on said stock by us subscribed when the same may be called for by the board of Directors of said Company when duly organized in conformity with the Charter approved February 27th 1847. "A. Lincoln" with six shares for $600 is prominent among the 91 subscriber names. The only other known record of a Lincoln stock purchase dates from 1836 when he bought one share in the Beardstown and Sangamon Canal. In June of 1847 as head of a committee to promote subscriptions for the projected railroad Lincoln wrote an open letter to the "People of Sangamon County" appealing for their support. Railroad construction was booming and Lincoln anticipated that a line between Springfield and Alton would prove a lucrative investment for himself and his state. "The whole is a matter of pecuniary interest" he argued. "The proper question for us is whether with reference to the present and the future and to direct and indirect results it is our interest to subscribe. If it can be shown that it is we hope few will refuse" Basler 1:396-398. The list of subscribers is itself of considerable interest. It includes John Hay 1775-1865 the grandfather of Lincoln's later secretary John Hay 2 shares Ninian W. Edwards 1809-1889 husband of Mary Todd Lincoln's sister 20 shares John T. Stuart 1807-1885 Lincoln's law partner 5 shares Henry Yates 1786-1865 father of Illinois governor Richard Yates 10 shares Noah W. Matheny 1815-1877 clerk of Sangamon County and others. In the subscription book Henry Yates hedging his bets has added a condition beneath his name: "if the Road intersects the M. & S R R at New Berlin." Lincoln was mindful of the critical issues raised by the Alton and Sangamon lawsuits and "took extraordinary pains to construct an airtight case for his client" Donald p.155. To Martin he pointed out the legal issues adding "I have labored hard to find the law" in preparation for the trials. In the end two of the defaulting stockholders paid their delinquent calls. The suits against James A. Barret and Joseph Klein came to trial in the Sangamon Circuit Court in August of 1851 with Lincoln handling both the trials and the appeals for the railroad. Lincoln's preparation proved its worth the rulings were in favor of the railroad. "Illinois Supreme Court Justice Samuel H. Treat ruled that public utility superseded private profit. If Barret had won the case other stockholders would balk at fulfilling their obligations. The rule of caveat emptor protected corporate management from stockholder's personal interests and encouraged subsequent investment" Lincoln Legal Briefs Oct-Dec 1990 no. 16 online. At the time he transcribed this document Lincoln was an attorney on the 8th Judicial Circuit and also managed a thriving appellate and federal court practice. He handled a number of railroad-related cases representing both private individuals as well as the railroads themselves. He was not as some have argued a hired gun for corporate interests. Rather as his law partner William Herndon described him Lincoln was "purely and entirely a case lawyer." The fact that Lincoln despite his commitment to railroading often handled suits against the carriers casts light on his understanding of the lawyer's role in societyHe simply could not afford to take only one side in legal disputes. Nor did Lincoln pursue some political or philosophical agenda through litigation. He was not concerned with developing a consistent legal ideology. His business as Donald reminds us "was law not morality." James W. Ely "Lincoln as Railroad Attorney" Indiana Historical Society Symposium April 15-16 2005 Though a prominent lawyer Lincoln was still smarting over recent political defeats. Elected to the U.S. Congress in 1846 he had served out his term but his outspoken opposition to the Mexican-American War had cost him any chance at a second term. He subsequently failed in his attempt to become commissioner of the General Land Office. Lincoln declined an appointment as governor of the Oregon Territory instead returning to his law practice with William H. Herndon in Springfield Illinois. He would not attempt a political comeback until 1854. The rail line was ultimately highly profitable. Lincoln's overriding belief in the broader benefits of internal improvements is best expressed in a speech he delivered before Congress in 1848. Let the nation take hold of the larger works and the states the smaller ones; and thus working in a meeting direction discreetly but steadily and firmly what is made unequal in one place may be equalized in another extravagance avoided and the whole country put on that career of prosperity which shall correspond with it's extent of territory it's natural resources and the intelligence and enterprize of it's people. Reference "Barret v. Alton & Sangamon Railroad" in Daniel W. Stowell et al. eds. The Papers of Abraham Lincoln: Legal Documents and Cases 4 vols. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press 2008 2:172-210.
1864réf. 24088President Abraham Lincoln seeks counsel from his cabinet on the appropriate response to the massacre at Fort Pillow Tennessee three weeks earlier. More than 400 African-American Union troops and their white officers were slain many of them after surrendering. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Letter Signed to Gideon Welles May 3 1864 Washington D.C. 1 p. 8 x 10 in. With: FORT PILLOW MASSACRE LYMAN TRUMBULL. Signed Presentation Copy. Reports of the Committee on the Conduct of the War: Fort Pillow Massacre. Returned Prisoners. 8vo. Illustrated with 8 portraits on 4 pages of woodcut engravings after photographic portraits of Belle Island POWs. Contemporary green cloth gilt with morocco spine label gilt-lettered. First Edition. Washington D.C. 1864. Inscribed on front fly leaf: "Lyman Trumbull to D.J. Ely". The cover title of sammelband that contains two Senate Reports related to Confederate atrocities: 1. U.S. Congress. May 5 1864. - Ordered to be printed.Joint Resolution directing the Committee on the Conduct of the War to examine into the recent attack on Fort Pillow. Senate Report 38th Congress 1st Session. Senate Rep. Com. No. 63. Nevins I: 204. 2. U.S. Congress. May 9 1864 - Ordered That the report.be printed in connexion with the report of the committee in relation to the Fort Pillow massacre.Joint Resolution directing the Committee on the Conduct and Expenditures of the War. Senate Report 38th Congress 1st Session. Senate Rep. Com. No. 68. On April 12 1864 1500 Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked a Union outpost at Fort Pillow Tennessee. After four hours of intense fighting Forrest demanded the garrison surrender. Although outnumbered almost three to one the Union troops inside the fort at first refused. Confederate forces eventually captured the position. According to survivors Confederate troops motivated by racial hatred proceeded to kill Union prisoners as they pleaded for their lives. It is unclear how many were killed after the surrender but first-hand accounts suggest that the numbers were high. Of 262 black soldiers at Fort Pillow only 58 survived to be taken prisoner; of 395 white soldiers 168 survived as prisoners. On May 3 President Lincoln sent a letter like this one to each of the members of his cabinet. Three days later Lincoln held a cabinet meeting at which each cabinet member read his opinion on the appropriate response. All agreed that the U.S. government should demand "an explanation" from the Confederacy. Seward Chase Stanton and Welles advised holding Confederate prisoners equal in numbers to the Union troops massacred as hostages; if the Confederate government avowed the massacre those prisoners would be executed. Usher Bates and Blair strongly disagreed with Blair pointing out that such a response "would not be justified by the rules of civilized warfare." Bates concurred noting that "retaliation is not mere justice. It is avowedly revenge; and it is wholly unjustifiable in law and conscience." Little formal action beyond a Congressional investigation took place. Perhaps the greatest impact that Fort Pillow had was on the morale of black troops. Knowing what their fate would be if captured on the field by Confederate soldiers black Union soldiers charged into battle with the war cry "Remember Fort Pillow!" Complete Transcript Executive Mansion Washington May 3d 1864 Hon. Secretary of the Navy. Sir: It is now quite certain that a large number of our colored soldiers with their white officers were by the rebel force massacred after they had surrendered at the recent capture of Fort-Pillow. So much is known though the evidence is not quite ready to be laid before me. Meanwhile I will thank you to prepare and give me in writing your opinion as to what course the Government should take in this case. Yours truly A. Lincoln With abolitionist Senator Lyman Trumbull's signed presentation copy of Congressional reports. Condition: very good.
1849réf. 152486New York: Baker and Scribner 1849. First edition of the biography of DeWitt Clinton the New York governor who built the Erie Canal Abraham Lincoln’s own copy signed by him on the title page. Octavo original publisher’s blind-stamped black cloth with gilt titles to the spine tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece portrait of Clinton. Signed by Abraham Lincoln on the title page in pencil “A. Lincoln Springfield Ill. Nov. 19. 1860” less than two weeks after his election to the presidency. Lincoln left Springfield by train for Washington the following February and never returned during his lifetime only for burial after his assassination. In the early stages of his political career Lincoln looked to Clinton as a model of a strong executive capable of undertaking and completing ambitious public works and by the 1840s two counties in Illinois had been named in Clinton's honor. Clinton had championed the Erie Canal at a time when many regarded the project as financially and technically infeasible securing state funding and overseeing its construction across more than 350 miles of upstate New York. Completed in 1825 the canal linked the Great Lakes to the Atlantic seaboard transformed New York City into the nation's preeminent commercial port and stood for decades afterward as the foremost example of what an ambitious executive could accomplish through public works. In near fine condition. Neatly rebacked with the original spine laid down hinges neatly repaired. Provenance: The Library of Charles E. Feinberg Parke-Bernet 2 April 1968; Collection of Harry J. Sonneborn Sotheby's 5 June 1980. Scarce and desirable with a strong Lincoln signature books from Lincoln's library are exceptionally rare on the market. DeWitt Clinton 1769-1828 was among the most consequential American politicians of the early republic serving as a United States Senator as mayor of New York City and as governor of New York and running unsuccessfully for the presidency against James Madison in 1812. He is remembered above all for the Erie Canal the vast waterway linking the Hudson River to Lake Erie that he championed against widespread ridicule and saw through to completion in 1825 and which transformed New York into the commercial capital of the nation while opening the interior of the continent to settlement and trade. Clinton became known across the country for his willingness to undertake the infrastructural projects on which American economic growth and westward expansion depended and his example carried particular weight in Illinois where two counties were named in his honor. William W. Campbell’s The Life and Writings of De Witt Clinton gathers Clinton’s speeches messages and correspondence alongside a biographical memoir and stands as the earliest substantial account of his career. Baker and Scribner hardcover
1864réf. 3082New York: Mathew Brady 1864. First edition. Very Good. SIGNED CDV PHOTOGRAPH FROM 1864 MATHEW BRADY SITTING WITH DIRECT FAMILY PROVENANCE. Vignetted photographic portrait from Mathew Brady's sitting of January 8 1864 signed by Lincoln along the lower edge of the photograph. The photograph descended directly through Lincoln's family from the president and Mary Todd Lincoln through five generations to the family of Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith the last surviving direct descendant of Abraham Lincoln. The photograph remained within Lincoln's direct family until it appeared at Cowan's Auctions in 2010 offered as lot 272 along with other items descended in the Lincoln-Beckwith lineage. It had passed from Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to their son Robert Todd Lincoln and from him to his daughter Jessie Lincoln Beckwith. Jessie's son Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith 1904-1985 was the last surviving direct descendant of Abraham Lincoln; the photograph passed to his wife Margaret Fristoe Beckwith and by descent to her daughter from whose estate it was consigned to the sale. Albumen print carte-de-visite on Brady's photographic mount; 1864. Small abrasion at bottom margin toning to verso; ink blot original on "A. Mathew Brady unknown
réf. 124196Rare original Anthony Berger carte-de-visite signed by Abraham Lincoln as President; the most recognizable portrait of Lincoln which was later used as the model for the Lincoln cent. Original mounted albumen photograph double ruled in gilt with "Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries" stamp to the verso. Boldly signed by Abraham Lincoln "A Lincoln." With an additional inscription on the verso which reads "Contributed for the benefit of the S.A.S. of Westford Mass. at their Levee Dec. 14th 1864 by Mr. Lincoln." Through the use of many paid assistants renowned 19th century portraitist Mathew B. Brady produced thousands of photographs documenting the American Civil War including portraits of Lincoln Grant and both Union and Confederate soldiers in camps and battlefields. The body of work created by Brady's photographers including Anthony Berger Alexander Gardner and Timothy O'Sullivan has become the most important visual documentation of the Civil War. Taken on February 9 1864 by the manager of Brady's Washington studio Anthony Berger this the most recognizable portrait of the 16th president of the United States was later used by Victor David Brenner to create the Lincoln cent. During this same sitting Berger also took the photograph of Lincoln that would later appear on the five dollar bill. The present example was signed by Lincoln to help the Sanitary Association of Westford Massachusetts raise funds for Unions soldiers toward the end Civil War. An example at Heritage Auction brought 175000 in 2006. In near fine condition. An exceptional piece. Abraham Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War the country's greatest moral cultural constitutional and political crisis and in doing so preserved the Union of the United States of America abolished slavery and strengthened the federal government. Lincoln ran for President in 1860 sweeping the North in victory. The South was outraged by Lincoln's election and in response secessionists implemented plans to leave the Union before he took office in March 1861. War began in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina just over a month after Lincoln's inauguration and after years of deadly military conflict officially ended on April 9 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Appomattox Court House. On April 14 1865 just days after the war's end at Appomattox Lincoln was attending a play at Ford's Theatre with his wife Mary when he was assassinated by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln is remembered as the martyr hero of the United States and is consistently ranked as one of the greatest presidents in American history. unknown books
1498réf. ABC_49311Colophon: Venice: Petrus Liechtenstein for Johannes Lucilius Santritter 1498. 20th-century limp vellum sewn on 2 thin vellum straps laced through the joints with the manuscript name of the wrong author and year of publication on the spine. The work is housed in a modern marbled paper slipcase. 4to. With a woodcut title page and numerous tables. Highly important 15th-century work on navigation which helped sailors navigate more accurately. According to Gunn the work "immediately helped to revolutionize ocean navigation. Prior to the Almanach navigators seeking to determine their position in the high seas had to correct for "compass error" the deviation of the magnetic north from the true north by recourse to the quadrant and the Pole Star. But this proved less useful as they approached the equator and the Pole Star began to disappear into the horizon. Zacuto's Almanach supplied the first accurate table of solar declination allowing navigators to use the sun instead."The work contains dozens of astronomical tables charting the position of the sun moon and five planets between 1473 and 1530. The calculations were based on the Alfonsine Tables and the work of other astronomers. As the data were presented in simple tables with the positions of a planet easily interpolated between entries the work was easy to use. Zacuto's success in fusing his mathematical and astronomical observations with practical aspects of oceanic navigation such as the preparation of sea charts and instruments vital for the most important navigators of the time undoubtedly makes him a major contributor to the creation of the world of today.Abraham Zacuto 1452-ca. 1515 was one the most important geographers and cosmographers in the age of Columbus. His astrolabe astronomical tables and charts played a fundamental role in Portuguese and Spanish navigation to America and India as they were used by Vasco da Gama and Columbus. The navigators to Brazil and India also took Zacutos charts with them. As such Zacuto is one of the men who helped usher Portuguese global expansion.With a later ownership annotation on the title page and contemporary annotations in the margins throughout. The vellum is somewhat creased and browned with a dent on the back. The lower corner of the first few leaves shows some thumbing with brown ink stains on some leaves a water stain in the lower outer corner of leaves 81 and 82 not affecting the text. Otherwise in good condition.l Bibl. Hisp. No. 1060; Brunet V 1518; Darmstadt LB: 33/7667; Goff R110; GW M37517; Hain-Copinger 13798; ISTC ir00110000; Panzer VIII p. 356; USTC 991591; cf. Chabás J. and B.R. Goldstein Astronomy in the Iberian peninsula: Abraham Zacut and the transition from manuscript to print. In: Transactions of the American Philosophical Society New Series 90 2 2000; Gunn Geoffrey C. Overcoming Ptolemy: The Revelation of an Asian World Region Lanham Lexington Books 2018; Jews and the Americas: 165 Years of Collecting at the JCB Fall 2010 - Winter 2011 https://jcblibrary.org/exhibitions/jews-and-americas-165-years-collecting-jcb. Petrus Liechtenstein, for Johannes Lucilius Santritter, hardcover
1865réf. 376410Montauk Montauk Navy Yard Wash D.C. 1865. 4 pp. 8vo. Slight soiling and minor tears along old folds otherwise in very good condition. 4 pp. 8vo. ".About 10:25 P.M. a man came in and walked slowly along the side." A remarkably clear and dramatic eyewitness account of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln from a naval surgeon who was close to the President's box at Ford's theater on that fateful night of April 14 1865. In this letter to his brother written the night after the assassination while the details were still fresh in his memory Dr. George B. Todd surgeon aboard the U.S. "Montauk" at anchor in the Navy Yard that day recounts the terrible event with a clarity of observation one might expect of his profession-a rarity among confused eyewitness accounts. The text of Todd's letter one of only 7 eyewitness accounts written within 24 hours of the assassination reads: "The few hours that have intervened since that most terrible tragedy of last night have served to give me a little clearer brain and I believe I am now able to give you a clear account up to this hour. Yesterday about 3 P.M. the President and wife drove down to the navy yard and paid our ship a visit going all over her accompanied by us all. Both seemed very happy and so expressed themselves - glad that this war was over or so near its end and then drove back to the White House. In the evening nearly all of us went to the Ford's Theatre. I was very early and got a seat near the President's private box as we heard he was to be there. About half past nine he came in with his wife a Miss Harris and Major Rathburn and was cheered by every one. As soon as there was a silence the play went on and I could see that the "pres." seemed to enjoy it very much. About 10:25 P.M. a man came in and walked slowly along the side on which the 'pres.' box was and I heard a man say "there's Booth" and I turned my head to look at him. He was still walking very slow and was near the box door when he stopped took a card from his pocket wrote something on it and gave it to the usher who took it to the box. In a minute the door was opened and he walked in. No sooner had the door closed then I heard the report of a pistol and on the instant Booth jumped out of the box onto the stage holding in his hand a large knife and shouted so as to be heard all over the house - 'Sic Semper Tyrannis' "so always with tyrants" and fled behind the scenes-I attempted to get to the box but I could not and in an instant the cry was raised 'The President is Assassinated.' "Such a scene I never saw before. The cry spread to the street only to be met by another 'So is Mr. Seward.' Soldiers had gone. Some General handed me a note and bid me go to the nearest telegraph office and arouse the nation. I ran with all my speed and in ten minutes the sad news was all over the country. Today all the city is in mourning nearly every house being in black and I have not seen a smile. No business and many a strong man I have seen in tears. "Some reports say Booth is a prisoner others that he has made his escape but from orders received here I believe he is taken as a mob once raised now would know no end. I will not seal this until morning and I may have some more news. "April 24th. "I have had no time to write until now as I have been a detective. We have now 7 that are implicated. Why don't you write Love to all George" Several important facts regarding the movements of both the President and John Wilkes Booth are recorded here: 1 This appears to be the only eyewitness account of the President's inspection of the "Montauk" earlier that afternoon. 2 Todd's account of Booth's interaction with the "usher" sitting outside the President's box "took a card from his pocket wrote something on it and gave it to the usher" is especially intriguing and reveals not only something of Todd's powers of observations but also his proximity to the assassin immediately before the shooting. Todd alone among eyewitnesses notes that the "usher" first took the card from Booth then went into the box and that a short time later the door opened and Booth went in. In fact Good finds only 7 other eye-witness accounts of the Lincoln assassination as early as April 15-most of these witnesses record little or nothing regarding the events before hearing the shot itself and none of them noticed Booth's interchange with the usher who was in fact Lincoln's valet Charles Forbes. There are three other accounts by eyewitnesses which partially corroborate Todd's observation of the Forbes and Booth interchange-but they were written much later than Todd's. 3 Todd's observation of the time he spotted Booth moving toward the box "about 10:25" corresponds to Good's own conclusion that Booth fired the fatal shot close to 10:30 PM. According to James Swanson MANHUNT p. 419 "the exact time of Booth's shot cannot be fixed . Booth may have shot Lincoln as early as 10:13 or as late as 10:30" Todd's account - again one of the freshest and most reliable weighs heavily in favor of Good. 4 Todd by his own account played a role in alerting the nation by telegraph. 5 Although he doesn't mention it as a surgeon of the ironclad Montauk Todd was also probably present at the autopsy of John Wilkes Booth on Thursday April 27 in the gun room of his ship. Indeed in an article in the February issue of the Baltimore and Ohio Magazine 1926 where the letter was first published and reproduced Todd is reported to have been "one of the surgeons who performed the autopsy." That as well as the fact that the other prisoners were being held on board the ironclad "Montauk" and "Saugus" may explain his cryptic remark near the end ". I have been a detective .". Todd actually mailed the letter on April 30 3 days after the autopsy and may very have participated in the actual investigation of the captives aboard the "Montauk." AN EXTRAORDINARY AND UNIQUE RECORD OF ONE THE NATION'S GREAT TRAGEDIES. Published from a copy in the State Historical Library of Wisconsin in Timothy S. Good WE SAW LINCOLN SHOT U. of Miss. 1995; with the mistaken date of April 30 1865 unknown
1571réf. 12719Antwerp Gielis Coppens van Diest 1571. Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. Complete copy bound in a contemporary vellum binding 8 53 maps 29 Folio. Engraved architectural title with the figure of Europe at the top. With 53 contemporary handcoloured double-page engraved maps. H. 43 x W. 30 cm. / H. 16.90 x W. 11.8 inch. Rare early edition of Ortelius' revolutionary atlas first published in Antwerp in 1570 also a Latin edition. Ortelius' atlas was revolutionary because it was the first attempt to present the geography of the world in a uniformly produced collection of maps of all known parts of the world. Ortelius designed the maps himself basing his designs on the cartographic sources that he had at hand and equally revolutionary also mentioning his sources on the maps and once finished had them engraved by Frans Hogenberg and Ambrosius and Ferdinand Aertsen. Finally Gielis Coppens van Diest printed the maps after which they could be coloured also in a uniform style and bound in a logical order in one volume. These atlases were a new phenomenon and proved to be very popular in Europe. Soon editions were published in various languages of Europe in print runs of a few hundred copies each. Few maps are slightly finger-stained in the wide margins. Contemporary vellum binding with some scratches and stains. Overall a remarkable copy of this famous atlas in beautiful contemporary colours. Van den Broecke estimates that of this 2nd Latin edition approximately 275 copies were printed. Literature: Van de Krogt/ Koeman IIIA 31:002; Adams O-335; Phillips 382; Shirley 122 with the world map in his first plate first state. Antwerp, Gielis Coppens van Diest hardcover
1715réf. 48763Augsburg.: Jeremias Wolff. c.1715. Full contemporary blond calf boards with elaborate neo-classical decorative borders composed of rules foliate floral and rope-work tools vase tools at head and foot and mask corner tools all to surround a central lozenge with a decorative composition of floral foliate and mask tools later banded spine with elaborate decorative tooling in gilt in seven compartments turn-ins tooled in gilt red speckled edges. Folio. 554 x 423 mm. Engraved allegorical title with Latin and German text leaf with letterpress text in German in double columns and 56 engraved allegorical plates all after the Deckers by various engravers see below. Sheet size: 435 x 560 mm. An exceptional copy of Decker’s very rare suite of engravings – here in-plano and with exceptional additional colouring and highlighting in gilt by hand – illustrating the battles of the War of the Spanish Succession.Decker’s suite depicts the battles of the complex series of engagements that became known as the War of the Spanish Succession 1701–1714. Prompted by the death of the last of the Spanish Habsburg Kings the childless Charles II and with a shifting group of alliances and a field of warfare that included not only Continental Europe and the Mediterranean but also the Caribbean and North America the War of the Spanish Succession has a case to be a true world war. In part an attempt to check French hegemony the war featured a number of outstanding victories for the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy including Blenheim although the war was ultimately at best indecisive.Each of Decker’s magnificent plates features a single engagement depicted in the central portion of the plate the whole image surrounded with a decorative border composed of architectural allegorical and armorial symbols and motifs in the Baroque manner and a descriptive text concerning the battle. Many of the plates feature an additional small vignette of the battlefield keyed to the descriptive text and illustrating the placement of the armies and the most significant figures involved.The colouring and highlighting by hand of the present copy is remarkable. The painstaking detailing and the additional ornamentation in liquid gold is lavish and in combination with the binding suggests this copy was important and worthy of presentation. The printed text 'Kurze Beschreibung des Spanisch Successions-Krieg . &c.' here and unusually in German gives a detailed outline of the origins and history of the conflict and concludes with the list of plates and the engagements they depict. The text appears in other copies in other languages suggesting a commercial flexibility of distribution.It is a measure of the importance attached to Decker’s suite that the painter Ignaz Preissler used Decker’s plates as the basis for the decoration of an important tea service and garniture now at least partly in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York see ‘Repraesentatio Belli ob successionem in Regno Hispanico . A Tea Service and Garniture by the Schwarzlot Decorator Ignaz Preissler’ by Maureen Cassidy-Geiger.‘Such commemorative series were considered works of art as well as encapsulations of recent events and were highly valued by collectors of the period who acquired them for their libraries or print cabinets.’ Maureen Cassidy-Geiger.Decker’s suite is very rare outside Germany: COPAC lists copies at the British Library and V & A only while KVK lists copies at the Polish National Library the Bibliothèque Nationale and the Université de Charles de Gaulle Lille in France and the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam; the only traceable copy in North America is at Brown University. We can locate no other copies with contemporary colouring or highlighting by handBerlin 103 incomplete; Bobins III 1165; Brunet V 626 for the French edition. Jeremias Wolff. hardcover
1890réf. 189727New York: The Century Co. 1890. A superb panorama of the age of Lincoln First edition abundantly extra-illustrated with over 650 letters photographs prints and ephemera crowned by an autograph letter signed by Lincoln as President: an extraordinary collection of signatures from the military and political leaders who shaped the nation in its greatest existential struggle. The authors Lincoln's private secretaries "shared a room at the White House and had an exceptionally close relationship with Lincoln though they stood somewhat in awe of the president. Lincoln and his two secretaries had a good deal of mutual affection. They served Lincoln for four years performing a wide variety of political and personal duties and remaining close friends throughout a working friendship that became the foundation for an important literary collaboration in later years" ANB. Their monumental History remains one of the grandest narratives of Lincoln's life presidency and legacy. The original 10 volumes have here been expanded to 20 and luxuriously bound by Whitman Bennett of New York in blue morocco emblazoned with the American eagle Lincoln's signature and patriotic insignia. The first item is an apparently unpublished autograph letter signed by Lincoln as President dated 2 August 1861 and written from the Executive Mansion to his Secretary of War: "My dear Sir Let Charles S. Hamilton of Wisconsin be a Brigadier General of volunteers". Hamilton 1822-1891 a West Point classmate of Ulysses S. Grant served in the Mexican-American War and commanded companies in Texas and Mississippi between 1848 and 1853. He later settled in Wisconsin and at the outbreak of the Civil War was commissioned colonel of the 3rd Wisconsin Infantry on 11 May 1861. The Lincoln letter here concerns his formal commissioning as brigadier general of volunteers that August. He served in Virginia Tennessee and Mississippi resigning in 1863 in protest at being denied higher command; he rebuffed Lincoln's request that he withdraw his resignation. Also included are four signed letters addressed to Lincoln during his presidency: from the acting governor of Utah Territory the Executive Council of New Hampshire the Pennsylvania congressional delegation and the citizens of Pottsville Pennsylvania. Together the signatures span the military and political leadership of the Civil War. They include former presidents Millard Fillmore and John Tyler and the future president Ulysses S. Grant. Also present are Lincoln's adversaries: Confederate president Jefferson Davis Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens his famous debating rival Stephen Douglas and Robert E. Lee. Lincoln's Cabinet is represented by Gideon Welles Edwin Stanton Salmon P. Chase and William H. Seward. Major Union commanders include Ulysses S. Grant George B. McClellan George G. Meade and Philip Sheridan. The ephemera includes currency and memorial ribbons. Several autograph letters signed by Nicolay and Hay are also bound in together with letters from Lincoln's wife Mary Todd Lincoln and his son Robert Todd Lincoln. Bound at the front is a notarized affidavit signed by the New York autograph dealer and expert Thomas F. Madigan dated 3 February 1925 certifying all the letters and documents as authentic. A full inventory is available upon request. 10 vols extended to 20 224 x 152 mm. Extra-illustrated with 44 photographs 150 autograph letters and documents 13 ephemeral items and 450 plates. Circa 1925 blue morocco by Whitman Bennett of New York spines lettered in gilt gilt eagle and wreath devices to compartments gilt Lincoln facsimile signature to front covers red doublures red silk free endpapers top edges gilt. Joints and extremities neatly restored else a fine set. unknown
1863réf. 373004Washington D.C. 1863. 1p. plus integral blank. 4to 9-3/4x7-3/4 inches. Minor smudging to signature. Housed in a blue full morocco box. 1p. plus integral blank. 4to 9-3/4x7-3/4 inches. The first military draft in U.S. history was passed by Congress in early 1863 and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in March of that year. The Enrollment Act or Civil War Military Draft Act required the enrollment of every male citizen between twenty and forty-five years of age as well as those immigrants who had filed for citizenship unless exempted by the Act. It set enlistment quotas for each state and required states to draft men if they did not meet their enlistment quotas through volunteers. It also included the policies of substitution furnishing a suitable substitute to take the draftee's place and commutation paying $300 to avoid the draft which led to substantial resentment among working-class citizens not wealthy enough to pay their way out of service. Only July 13 during the draft lottery in New York City a riot broke out leading to three days of violence and destruction. Although initially focused on the draft the protests subsequently devolved into vicious race riots. The rioters were largely white and in the wake of the Emancipation Proclamation claimed to fear that freed enslaved men would migrate to the city and take their jobs. Since Blacks were exempted from the draft the Draft Act only heightened fears of Black migration to the city. The violence against the Black community in New York as well as against abolitionists was substantial: the death toll reached upwards of 120 and numerous homes and churches were burned. Since most of the New York State Militia was fighting with Union troops at Gettysburg the New York Police Department was the only force on hand to deal with the rioters initially and they were badly outnumbered and underequipped. By day four of the riots five New York Militia units had reached the city along with the 26th Michigan Volunteers and the 27th Indiana Volunteers and were able to start restoring order. Eventually there were several thousand troops in the city and they brutally put down the remaining rioters. Almost immediately calls came to suspend the draft in New York most notably by Horatio Seymour the Governor of New York who wrote to Lincoln several times in the weeks which followed arguing against the constitutionality of the draft and the inequity in its application. Lincoln replied on August 7 refusing to acquiesce to Seymour's demands writing: "I shall direct the draft to proceed in all the Districts drawing however at first from each of the four Districts towit: the second fourth sixth and eighth . I do not object to abide a decision of the United States Supreme Court or of the judges thereof on the constitutionality of the draft law. In fact I should be willing to facilitate the obtaining of it; but I can not consent to lose the time while it is being obtained. We are contending with an enemy who as I understand drives every able bodied man he can reach into his ranks very much as a butcher drives bullocks into a slaughter-pen. No time is wasted no argument is used. This produces an army which will soon turn upon our now victorious soldiers already in the field if they shall not be sustained by recruits as they should be. It produces an army with a rapidity not to be matched on our side if we first waste time to re-experiment with the volunteer system already deemed by congress and palpably in fact so far exhausted as to be inadequate; and then more time to obtain a court decision as to whether a law is constitutional which requires a part of those not now in the service to go to the aid of those who are already in it; and still more time to determine with absolute certainty that we get those who are to go in the precisely legal proportion to those who are not to go. My purpose is to be in my action just and constitutional; and yet practical in performing the important duty with which I am charged of maintaining the unity and the free principles of our common country" Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln Vol. 6. Three days later on August 10 Lincoln signed the present order to resume the draft in the Second Congressional district of New York the western portion of Long Island primarily Nassau County and part of Queens County. This is the first draft order following his refusal to Governor Seymour to suspend the draft in the New York City area. In full manuscript accomplishments in brackets: "I Abraham Lincoln President of the United States of America and Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy thereof having taken into consideration the number of volunteers and militia furnished by and from the several States including the State New York and the period of service of said volunteers and militia since the commencement of the present rebellion in order to equalize the numbers among the Districts of the said States and having considered and allowed for the number already furnished as aforesaid and the time of their service aforesaid do hereby assign Two Thousand and Fifty 2050 as the first proportional part of the quota of troops to be furnished by the 2ndDistrict of the State of New York under this the first call made by me on the State of New York under the act approved March 3 1863 entitled 'An Act for Enrolling and Calling our the National Forces and for other purposes' and in pursuance of the act aforesaid I order that a draft be made in the said 2nd District of the State of New York for the number of men herein assigned to said District." On the same day as this order Lincoln would meet with Frederick Douglass at the White House to discuss his traveling through the south to recruit former slaves to fight for the Union. An extraordinary Lincoln document at a turning point moment in the Civil War. unknown
1863réf. 32764New York: Baker & Godwin 1863. 8vo. 9 x 5 5/8 inches. 48pp. Publisher's lettered wrappers publisher's ad on rear wrapper. Housed in a blue morocco box. "Four score and seven years ago.": the earliest publication of the Gettysburg Address in book form preceded only by the exceptionally rare sixteen-page pamphlet The Gettysburg Solemnities known in only three copies. Lincoln made his speech at the dedication of a cemetery on the Gettysburg battlefield some four months after the bloody and pivotal battle that turned the tide of the Civil War in favor of the Union. Lincoln's speech was preceded by an address from Edward Everett the most famous orator of his day. Everett's speech took some ninety minutes to deliver and is largely forgotten. Lincoln's speech delivered in only a few minutes is immortal. It is a supreme distillation of American values and of the sacrifices necessary for the survival of liberty and freedom. "The Washington Chronicle of 18-21 November reported extensively on this ceremony and included a verbatim text of 'Edward Everett's Great Oration.' On the fourth day it noted in passing that the President had also made a speech but gave no details. When it came to the separate publication on 22 November Everett's 'Oration' was reprinted from the standing type but Lincoln's speech had to be set up. It was tucked away as a final paragraph on page 16 of the pamphlet The Gettysburg Solemnities. It was similarly treated when the meanly produced leaflet was replaced by a 48-page booklet published by Baker and Godwin of New York in the same year" PMM. Lincoln's address appears on page 40 and parenthetical notes are added indicating "applause" and "long-continued applause." A diagram on page 32 gives the details of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. A lovely example in original wrappers. Howes E232 "b"; Monaghan 193; Grolier American 100 72 note; Streeter Sale 1747; Sabin 23263; cf. Printing and the Mind of Man 351; Garry Wills Lincoln at Gettysburg pp.191-204. Baker & Godwin unknown books
1863réf. WRCAM49250DNew York: Baker & Godwin 1863. 48pp. Publisher's printed wrappers publisher's advertisement on rear wrapper. Spine perished. Very good. In a blue morocco box. The earliest publication of the Gettysburg Address in book form. This edition was preceded only by the exceptionally rare sixteen-page pamphlet THE GETTYSBURG SOLEMNITIES known in only three copies. Lincoln made his speech at the dedication of a cemetery on the Gettysburg battlefield some four months after the bloody and pivotal battle that turned the tide of the Civil War in favor of the Union. Lincoln's speech was preceded by an address from Edward Everett the most famous orator of his day. Everett's speech took some ninety minutes to deliver and is largely forgotten. Lincoln's speech delivered in only a few minutes is immortal. It is a supreme distillation of American values and of the sacrifices necessary for the survival of liberty and freedom. "The WASHINGTON CHRONICLE of 18-21 November reported extensively on this ceremony and included a verbatim text of 'Edward Everett's Great Oration.' On the fourth day it noted in passing that the President had also made a speech but gave no details. When it came to the separate publication on 22 November Everett's 'Oration' was reprinted from the standing type but Lincoln's speech had to be set up. It was tucked away as a final paragraph on page 16 of the pamphlet THE GETTYSBURG SOLEMNITIES. It was similarly treated when the meanly produced leaflet was replaced by a 48-page booklet published by Baker and Godwin of New York in the same year" - PMM. Lincoln's address appears on page 40 and parenthetical notes are added indicating "applause" and "long-continued applause." A diagram on page 32 gives the details of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. HOWES E232 "b." MONAGHAN 193. GROLIER AMERICAN 100 72 note. STREETER SALE 1747. SABIN 23263. PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN 351 ref. Garry Wills LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG pp.191-204. Baker & Godwin unknown books
1863réf. 376857New York: Baker & Godwin 1863. First edition in book form. 48 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Original printed wrappers expert restoration to the spine. Housed in a morocco backed box. First edition in book form. 48 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. A lovely copy of the rare first edition of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address delivered at the dedication of a cemetery on the Gettysburg battlefield four months after the bloody and pivotal battle that turned the tide of the Civil War in favor of the Union. Lincoln's speech delivered in only a few minutes stands as a supreme distillation of American values and of the sacrifices necessary for the survival of liberty and freedom. Much controversy surrounds the circumstances and content of the address as it was actually delivered at Gettysburg. The words spoken in the speech differ in the versions appearing in newspapers and the text which appeared in Washington several days later published as The Gettysburg Solemnities and known in only four copies which is now taken as the closest version to Lincoln's final intent because of its correspondence to the known manuscript versions. Interestingly and according to Carbonell the text of the first appearance of the speech in book form published a few days later as An Oration Delivered on the Battlefield of Gettysburg i.e. the present printing is taken largely from the New York Tribune printing. Lincoln's address appears on page 40 and parenthetical notes are added indicating "applause" and "long-continued applause." A diagram on page 32 gives the details of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. "Lincoln's speech composed on the train on the way to Gettysburg and written down according to tradition on scratch-paper and the backs of envelopes comprised ten sentences and took only a few minutes to deliver. From the first words - 'Four score and seven years ago' - to the last - 'that government of the people by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth' - it is immortal one of the supreme utterances of the principles of democratic freedom" PMM. PMM 351; Wills 191-204 261-263; Howes E233; Sabin 23263; Streeter sale 1747; Monaghan 193 Baker & Godwin unknown
1862réf. 63833Washington. January 6 1862 i.e. 1863. Abraham Lincoln Writes on Behalf of an Illinois Friend Colleague and Patriot A remarkably moving and poignant autograph letter signed from Abraham Lincoln as president writing to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton on behalf of his former Illinois Whig colleague Martin P. Sweet who seeks to have a second son appointed to the Union Army even after his first had fallen in battle. Lincoln and Sweet were political colleagues and friends and the two shared the experience of losing sons at a young age. Not only had Sweet's son Lieutenant John J. Sweet died at the Battle of Gaines Mill on June 27 1862 but Lincoln himself had lost two young sons most recently his son Willie who died of typhoid fever in February 1862. Lincoln's brief letter to Stanton is fewer than one hundred words and contains the terse and eloquent rhythms that would categorize many of his most famous utterances including the Gettysburg Address later in 1863. The text written on Executive Mansion stationery reads in full: "Hon. Sec. of War; Sir Martin P. Sweet an Illinois friend of mine had a son a first Lieut. in the 5th Regular Cavalry who was killed in the battle of Gaines' Mill. He now asks that another son – brother to the deceased – be appointed to the place or a place in the same regiment in which the father says the officers tell him there are vacancies. The young man's name is 'Martin A. Sweet.' I shall be personally gratified if this can be done without difficulty. Yours truly A. Lincoln." The president has dated his letter January 6 1862 although based on the reference to the 5th Cavalry's role at Gaines' Mill in the summer of that year we must attribute this to an early New Year's error and assume that the date would properly be January 6 1863. Gaines' Mill took place on the third of the Seven Days Battles and was a major tactical victory for the Confederacy despite heavy losses on both sides. The "vacancies" alluded to by Lincoln would not be surprising – the 5th United States Cavalry suffered fifty-eight casualties in the fighting including all but one of its officers. It is unclear if Sweet's second son Martin Anthony ever received his appointment despite the heart-wrenching plea of his father and personal request of the President; in whatever case he lived through the war before passing away at a relatively young age in 1889. A "Martin A. Sweet" is recorded in the 6th Michigan Cavalry which was part of the Michigan Brigade and saw heavy action from Gettysburg through Appomattox. Martin Pierce Sweet 1806-64 was a native of New York who moved to Freeport Illinois in 1840 becoming a prominent local figure in law and politics. He and his wife Catherine Van Etten had six children. Sweet's policies mirrored Lincoln's own early views being firmly opposed to slavery through legislation though not a radical abolitionist. Throughout the 1840s and 50s Sweet and Lincoln were alternately comrades and opponents in the Illinois Whig party – in 1849 for example Lincoln backed Cyrus Edwards against Sweet for the appointment as General Land Commissioner and in 1855 he and Lincoln were both considered as alternatives to Lyman Trumbull who nonetheless took the seat in the Senate over both. In 1856 Sweet firmly backed Lincoln for vice president though he was soundly defeated by Dayton. From then on Sweet became an unofficial political adviser to the ascendant Lincoln – perhaps his most enduring legacy in that role was when he met with Joseph Medill and others to strategize on Lincoln's behalf in the Lincoln-Douglas debates one of which took place in Sweet's hometown of Freeport. Among their advice to Lincoln was that he should ask "a few ugly questions" including the famous prompt which resulted in Douglas' so-called Freeport Doctrine. Lincoln's ties to Sweet and the Douglas debates are made clear in a letter of September 16 1858 in which the future president wrote to his Illinois friend to apologize for a potentially disparaging comment fearing "that those villainous reporters Douglas has with him will try to make something out of it.I write this to assure you that nothing can be farther from me than to feel much less intentionally say anything disrespectful to you." A deeply moving autograph letter signed from Abraham Lincoln as president assisting a friend political ally and bereaved father prepared to lose a second son and give a last full measure of devotion for the Union cause. Light tanning vertical crease near right edge just touching signature. Very good. In a cloth chemise and half morocco and cloth box spine gilt. Michael Burlingame Abraham Lincoln: A Life Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press 2008 pp.486-557. hardcover
1863réf. 25464"I esteem Gov. Francis Thomas as an able and very true man. I do not know that he agrees with me in everything—perhaps he does not; but he has given me evidence of sincere friendship & as I think of patriotism." ABRAHAM LINCOLN.Autograph Letter Signed to Robert C. Schenck May 31 1863 Washington D.C. 1 p. Complete Transcript Private Executive Mansion Washington May 31 1863. Major Gen. Schenck Baltimore Md. I have been requested to say what I very truly can that I esteem Gov. Francis Thomas as an able and very true man. I do not know that he agrees with me in everything—perhaps he does not; but he has given me evidence of sincere friendship & as I think of patriotism. Yours truly A. Lincoln. Historical Background Lincoln had served in Congress together with fellow Whig Robert C. Schenck in the 1840s and made Schenck a Major General at the beginning of the war. Severely wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run in August 1862 Schenck was given command of the Middle Department. He firmly supported the Unconditional Unionists from his headquarters in Baltimore and despite the necessity of tact in the politically sensitive border state of Maryland had little tolerance for middle ground. In July 1861 Secretary of War Simon Cameron with the president's encouragement had authorized Thomas to raise four regiments of loyal citizens from western Maryland for the protection of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. A month later Thomas recommended and Lincoln endorsed three officers for the 1st Maryland Regiment Potomac Home Guard. In early September 1862 Thomas sent Lincoln a lengthy private letter: "Our acquaintance is very limited…and it may be presumptuous in me to write this letter." Nevertheless he continued "In my humble judgment all the evils now threatening seriously the utter ruin of the country are to be traced to the error consumatted in the organization of your Cabinet. There is not so far as my knowledge extends at the head of any one of the Departments a single individual who has come into your Administration under the right influences…" "Now I have watched with the deepest anxiety" Thomas informed Lincoln "all or nearly all of your difficulties have their origin in the fact that you have Presidential aspirants in your cabinet and Presidential aspirants in your own party outside of your cabinet all of whom have their partisans in the Senate and House of Representatives." The "vast interests at stake" demanded that Lincoln reorganize his cabinet and announce his own candidacy for reelection. Two months later Lincoln's cabinet crisis reached a boiling point when Radical Republican senators demanded Secretary of State William H. Seward's resignation. Lincoln called the senators to a meeting with every member of the cabinet except Seward who had offered his resignation. Lincoln asked if the cabinet had freely debated issues and offered input before important decisions were made. The cabinet agreed that they had. Chase who had painted a picture to the senators of Seward and Lincoln running roughshod over the cabinet was cleverly chastened and offered his resignation. Lincoln refused the resignations of Seward and Chase thus maintaining intact his now famous "team of rivals" and keeping the senate at bay. Despite his criticism Thomas was also supportive. On April 23 1863 he was one of the speakers at a mass meeting of Unconditional Union men of Allegany County Maryland. Thomas "accorded to President Lincoln the purest motives and a patriotic determination to crush the rebellion and restore peace and prosperity to the country. He said that power and responsibility must rest somewhere and that he was willing to confide in the President and sustain him to the fullest extent in carrying out the measures adopted by Congress for prosecuting the war. He spoke of the emancipation proclamation of the President as a retaliatory measure for the confiscation acts of the southern conspirators and said it was a war measure calculated to subdue the rebels who had raised the standard of rebellion without any justifiable cause." Despite the unsolicited advice and criticism Lincoln offered this honest testimonial. It isn't clear if this answered a request of Thomas or a mutual contact or if Lincoln wrote it to send Thomas with his own purpose in mind. In mid-April Schenck who had a reputation for ham-handed harshness ordered at least eight persons charged with "using treasonable language" or "disloyal practices" in Baltimore to be exiled to the South. Less than a week later he had two newspaper editors from smaller towns in Maryland sent South for "having published treasonable articles." On May 28 three days before Lincoln penned this letter Schenck and Maryland Governor Augustus W. Bradford visited Pennsylvania Governor Andrew G. Curtin in Harrisburg to discuss "the more effectual protection of the southern borders of Pennsylvania and Maryland against any further incursions of rebel cavalry." Schenck and the two governors then left for Washington. Within a month the entire Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was in Pennsylvania heading for a conflict at Gettysburg. In mid-July 1863 a few weeks after writing this private letter Lincoln told his secretary John Hay that General Henry W. Halleck "thinks Schenck never had a military idea & never will learn one. however you may doubt or disagree with Halleck he is very apt to be right in the end." Schenck resigned from the army in December 1863 after again winning election to Congress. On the other hand Lincoln maintained his trust of Thomas. On July 5 1864 Confederate General Jubal Early crossed the Potomac River at Harper's Ferry with a corps of the Army of Northern Virginia aiming at Washington. General Lew Wallace's determined resistance near Frederick Maryland delayed the advance by a day providing defenders in Washington critical time to prepare. After the Confederate army withdrew into Virginia on July 14 Major General David Hunter ordered the provost marshal in Frederick to arrest "all male secessionists with their families" and force those who had given "undue sympathy" to the Confederates to sell their furniture for the benefit of Union families who had lost possessions during the incursion and to seize the sympathizers' houses for government use. By August 1 Major John I. Yellott had placed twenty-three southern sympathizers and their families under house arrest. On August 3 Lincoln ordered the Secretary of War to suspend Hunter's order and have Hunter send a report of the charges against each individual. Hunter requested to be relieved of command a wish that was soon granted.On August 13 Thomas protested to fellow Marylander and Postmaster General Montgomery Blair writing that the arrests of "quiet inoffensive citizens who have not publicly given by words or acts encouragement to the enemy cannot but be mischievous." The President asked Thomas to investigate. In September Thomas reported back. With the exception of two already discharged and two others charged with "a grave offence" who "ought to have an opportunity to establish their innocence" Thomas recommended that the President order the release of all the others on the list. Thomas followed up later that year reporting that specific charges had been made against only John W. Baughman an editor of the Republican Citizennewspaper in Frederick who had been sent South and against John Ruck and Isaack Ruck who were like the others on the list still under arrest at their homes in Frederick. On January 21 1865 Lincoln ordered all but Baughman discharged. Lincoln's unmatched ability to take advice from all sides and to work with capable men whose own ambitions sometimes conflicted with Lincoln's views is reflected in our letter. Robert C. Schenck 1809-1890 was born in Ohio and graduated from Miami University in 1827. He received a master's degree in 1830 studied law under Thomas Corwin and gained admission to the bar in 1831. He moved to Dayton Ohio and opened a successful law practice. After serving in the state legislature he represented his district in Congress from 1841 to 1851 when President Millard Fillmore appointed him as U.S. Minister to Brazil. Schenck served there until 1853. In 1859 he gave perhaps the first public endorsement of Lincoln for the Presidency in a speech in Dayton. At the beginning of the Civil War Lincoln commissioned Schenck as a brigadier general and he served in both Battles of Bull Run and in the 1862 Valley Campaign. He was wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run and held an administrative post in Maryland while recovering. He resigned his commission in December 1863 after election to Congress where he served again until 1871. President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him as U.S. Minister to Great Britain a position he held until 1876 though his involvement in an American mining scandal left him thoroughly discredited. Francis Thomas 1799-1876 was born in Frederick County Maryland attended college in Annapolis and was admitted to the bar in 1820. He began a practice in Frankville in western Maryland and served in the state legislature in 1822 1827 and 1829. From 1831 to 1833 he served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Thomas served as governor of Maryland from 1842 to 1845 but his term and political future was marred by his public and contentious divorce from his much younger wife Sally Campbell Preston McDowell the daughter of the governor of Virginia.Thomas was a strong opponent of slavery which was unusual in a border state like Maryland. Defeated for reelection in 1844 he served in the state constitutional convention of 1850. He was again elected to Congress in 1860 serving until 1869 as a Unionist an Unconditional Unionist and then a Republican. From 1870 to 1872 he was collector of internal revenue for Maryland and then U.S. Minister to Peru from 1872 to 1875. He was killed when struck by a locomotive near his estate in Frankville. books
1863réf. 6046021863. "A. Lincoln" in black ink on Executive Mansion Washington letterhead March 18 1863. 5" x 8" 1 page with integral leaf. Very good. Integral blank with an autograph endorsement signed by Holt and clerical endorsement from the Adjutant General's office. To Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt: Lincoln requests his Judge Advocate General to investigate the "Strong Mitigating Circumstances" surrounding the court-martial of a member of the West Point Class of 1861. "It is said Lieut. John Benson Williams of the 3rd regular infantry as been sentenced by a Military Commission to be dismissed the service. I have some reason to believe there are strong mitigating circumstances in his case which the Commission perhaps did not deem competent for them to consider I will thank you to procure the record examine it and report it to me. . ." Holt forwarded Lincoln's letter to the Adjutant General noting that "No record or report in regard to the Williams case has been received at this office." The letter was returned to Holt accompanied by the record of William's court-martial and docketed "Please see papers within." After studying the record Holt made a lengthy report to Secretary of War Stanton March 30 1863 which survives in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Holt dismissed the "mitigating circumstances" referenced by Lincoln - Williams's supposedly "severe sickness" - and concluded that "It is evident that Lieut. Williams left his command on the battlefield and returned to Washington without leave and in known violation of orders and of his duty. . . .He has shown himself disqualified for the profession of arms." On April 8th Stanton in turn forwarded Holt's deposition to the President "as requested by his note on the 18th Ulto" that is the present letter. Lincoln ended the matter with his own terse endorsement on April 11th: "I decline to interfere in Behalf of Lieut. Williams" Basler 4:169. Although referred to in Basler's note regarding Lincoln's endorsement the present letter does not appear in "The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln". Signed by Authors. No Binding. Very Good/No Jacket. unknown books
1863réf. 423266New York: Baker & Godwin Printers and Publishers Printing-House Square opposite City Hall 1863. Softcover. Very Good. The earliest publication of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in book form preceded only by the exceptionally scarce 16-page pamphlet The Gettysburg Solemnities. Octavo. Stitched in the original printed wrapper with a publisher’s advertisement on the rear wrap. pp. 1-3 4-48. Modest overall toning and rubbing to the wrapper some fraying at the corners part of the paper along the spine back is perished one vertical stain at the front wrap and title page a very good copy with a few scattered contemporary brown ink markings. Very light contemporary ownership name in pencil at the top of the front wrap. Housed in a fine quarter blue morocco slipcase with gilt spine lettering and two raised bands and with an internal cloth chemise. “Collection of Foreman M. Lebold” stamped in gold on the front cover of the slipcase. Foreman M. Lebold was a noted collector of Lincoln material and the eldest brother of Nathan Leopold one of the infamous Leopold and Loeb teenage thrill killers convicted of the murder of Bobby Franks which captured the attention of the nation. Foreman like much of his family eventually changed his last name to Lebold because of the notoriety of the trial. Lincoln delivered his speech at the dedication ceremony of the Gettysburg National Cemetery on November 19 1863 about four months after the pivotal battle that turned the tide of the Civil War in favor of the Union. His speech was preceded by an Oration by Edward Everett the most famous orator of the day. Everett’s oration printed here in full took about two hours to deliver and is now largely forgotten. Lincoln’s address was delivered in only a few minutes and is now celebrated as the supreme distillation of American values and testament to the sacrifices necessary to achieve freedom for all Americans. It is printed on page 40 of this booklet under the title: “The dedicatory remarks were then delivered by the President as follows: / President Lincoln’s Speech. / Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation …” A well-preserved copy in the original wrappers. Sabin 23263; Printing and the Mind of Man 351. Baker & Godwin, Printers and Publishers, Printing-House Square, opposite City Hall unknown
1799réf. 12534Paris: Du Pont 1799. Three engraved maps 465 by 420 mm 550 by 340 mm and 530 by 350 mm respectively with fine contemporary hand-colour in full old folds. These maps from the library of the Rochambeau family were published in the first edition of Rochefoucauld-Liancourt's travels in the United States 'Voyage Dans les États-Unis D'Amérique Fait en 1795 1796 et 1797 " Paris 1799 annotated in an early 19th-century hand after Abraham Bradley Junior's 1796 map 'A Map of the United States. Exhibiting Post Roads & Distances'. They are reduced copies of the 1796 first edition of Bradley's map and are therefore the first French edition of these maps. The Comte de Rochambeau 1725-1807 was a battle-hardened French general chosen by King Louis XVI in 1780 to command the expeditionary corps in the United States under the orders of General George Washington. Their combined success at the Siege of Yorktown on the 19th of October 1781 ended the Revolutionary War and secured American independence. 1."Carte générale des États-Unis de l'Amérique Septentrionale divisée en ses 17 provinces" annotated in an early 19th-century hand numbering each of 16 states giving the location of Native American tribes providing a key showing the major post roads from Main to South Carolina all after Abraham Bradley's map of 1796 acknowledged by the inscriber who has replaced the imprint with "par Abraham Bradley Jun.r" This map of the East Coast extends from Quebec south to include part of East and West Florida; the western boundary of Georgia extends to the Mississippi River; a strip of land extending westward between Georgia and Tennessee is designated "United States Territory" having been ceded back to the United States in 1787 from South Carolina; another strip between Georgia and West Florida is "Land claimed by the united states" referring to the ongoing dispute between the United States and Spain; all the land to the west which would become the Louisiana Purchase is "Spanish Territory Louisiana." English captions and French title. Manuscript ink annotations in French indicating the names of the 17 states and the position of the Indian tribes. Ink manuscript inscription to verso "IK 403" shelfmark of Rochambeau family library and as "Etats-Unis en 17 provinces." 2. The "Carte des États-Unis Provinces méridionales" shows Kentucky Virginia Tennessee North and South Carolina Georgia a strip of land between Tennessee and Georgia as "United States Territory" and to the south of Georgia "Land claimed by the united states". 3. The "Carte des États-Unis provinces Septentrionales" shows the states from Main sic to Maryland and Delaware. François Alexandre Frédéric duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt 1747-1827 was a French writer and courtier. A social and scientific reformer he was elected to the Estates-General and pushed for changes to the absolute monarchy of France. Rochefoucauld-Liancourt was the first to warn Louis XVI of the fall of the Bastille; when the king called it a revolt Rochefoucauld Liancourt replied "No sire it is a revolution". Despite being sympathetic to the original aims of the Revolution and serving as the first president of the Constituent Assembly he opposed republicanism and secretly tried to arrange for the escape of the king. Following the storming of the royal palace in August 1792 and the beginning of the September Massacres later that same year precipitated his flight from France and he went into self-imposed exile in America. From London in September 1794 Angelica Schuyler Church wrote to her brother-in-law Alexander Hamilton with a glowing introduction. Liancourt made his was to Philadelphia in November and travelled extensively from "le Haute-Canada" above Lake Ontario to Charleston South Carolina taking notes on everything from the economy to slavery to agriculture. After returning to France in 1799 when Napoleon took power he published his analysis as an eight-volume work in which these maps were published. Related Letters and Historic Background Angelica Church to Alexander Hamilton September 19 1794: "My dear Brother I have very particular and very good motives to ask your kindness for the Duke de Liancourt. he loved Liberty with good sence and moderation; and he meant so well towards his country as to introduce into France a better system of Agriculture and to soften the situation of the Lower class of people there: Virtue has not found its reward for in the many scenes of distress that has afflicted his unfortunate country he like many more good men has been obliged to leave his possessions and seek an Asylum in this country. He goes to America and goes there without a friend unless my dear Brother who is always so good will extend to Monsieur de Liancourt his ease. besides many good Qualities this gentleman is the friend of the Marquis de La Fayette. Angelica Church." On April 10 1795 Liancourt wrote to Hamilton in a letter docketed by the recipient and then later by his widow Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. Rough translation from French: "You have allowed me to count on your interest Monsieur and this without complaint a hope for which I am flattered. I am herewith asking you to prove it which I hope will be one for you interest since it seems to me not being a stranger to you. I am at the point of leaving for a voyage that will take me as far as Canada. I will enter the United States through the province of Maine from there for another voyage in the east There are introduction letters to principle places that I am due to visit that I would be more pleased to get from you rather than anyone else. If you agree as I think you will to give them to me would you please send them to General Knox in the province of Maine where I will be until the end of July. I flatter myself that you will excuse my importunity!." Although France and the United States had been allies since 1778 political developments in both countries damaged the relationship. The French Revolution was viewed by Federalists like Alexander Hamilton as a dangerous precedent; and the ensuing wars between Britain and France placed the neutral United States in a precarious position. Relations deteriorated further on the signing of Jay's Treaty 1794 with Great Britain. France ordered the seizure of American ships carrying British goods and in 1796 the French refused to admit American diplomats. This impasse led to the XYZ Affair which provoked Congress in turn to suspend commercial relations with France and to authorize American warships to seize armed French vessels. This undeclared naval war lasted for three years with the United States capturing about eighty-five French vessels Du Pont, unknown
1863réf. 31428New York: Baker & Godwin 1863. 8vo. 9 x 5 5/8 inches. 48pp. Publisher's lettered wrappers publisher's ad on rear wrapper. Repair to paper spine. Within a modern box. "Four score and seven years ago.": the earliest publication of the Gettysburg Address in book form preceded only by the exceptionally rare sixteen-page pamphlet The Gettysburg Solemnities known in only three copies. Lincoln made his speech at the dedication of a cemetery on the Gettysburg battlefield some four months after the bloody and pivotal battle that turned the tide of the Civil War in favor of the Union. Lincoln's speech was preceded by an address from Edward Everett the most famous orator of his day. Everett's speech took some ninety minutes to deliver and is largely forgotten. Lincoln's speech delivered in only a few minutes is immortal. It is a supreme distillation of American values and of the sacrifices necessary for the survival of liberty and freedom. "The Washington Chronicle of 18-21 November reported extensively on this ceremony and included a verbatim text of 'Edward Everett's Great Oration.' On the fourth day it noted in passing that the President had also made a speech but gave no details. When it came to the separate publication on 22 November Everett's 'Oration' was reprinted from the standing type but Lincoln's speech had to be set up. It was tucked away as a final paragraph on page 16 of the pamphlet The Gettysburg Solemnities. It was similarly treated when the meanly produced leaflet was replaced by a 48-page booklet published by Baker and Godwin of New York in the same year" PMM. Lincoln's address appears on page 40 and parenthetical notes are added indicating "applause" and "long-continued applause." A diagram on page 32 gives the details of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Howes E232 "b"; Monaghan 193; Grolier American 100 72 note; Streeter Sale 1747; Sabin 23263; cf. Printing and the Mind of Man 351; Garry Wills Lincoln at Gettysburg pp.191-204. Baker & Godwin unknown books
1846réf. 3117130/03/1846. At the time Lincoln wrote this he was running for Congress It shows the relationship between perhaps the most famous senior and junior law partners https://vimeo.com/943731365share=copy In his nearly 25 years as a lawyer in Springfield Illinois Abraham Lincoln had three partners. He joined John Todd Stuart as a junior partner then started a new practice as a junior partner with Stephen T. Logan. In 1844 Lincoln and Logan took on William H. Herndon. In the fall of 1844 Lincoln was tired of being a junior partner. He had worked for senior partners with political ambitions and Lincoln wanted a younger partner to whom he could relate. Logan and Lincoln dissolved their partnership in December 1844. Logan wanted to practice law with his son David and Lincoln wanted to start his own law firm. In October Lincoln invited his friend William Herndon to form a partnership with Herndon as junior partner. Thus was born Lincoln and Herndon. The firm would become a legend. In all three firms Lincoln functioned as a general practitioner taking a wide variety of civil and criminal cases. Herndon did not disappoint his friend. He contributed to the practice by performing research for his older and more experienced partner building the firm's law library and overseeing young men who came to study law read the law at their office. Business began slowly for the new firm. Not until March 1845 was their first case heard in the Sangamon County Circuit Court. That first case was Hope v. Beebe et al and was action in debt with Lincoln and Herndon appearing for plaintiff and Logan for defendant. Here is a description of that case: A plaintiff Norwood had won a replevin suit against the Beebee also spelled Beebe Brothers in the U. S. Circuit Court Beebee Brothers v. Whitney & Norwood. Hope the marshal of the U. S. Circuit Court District of Illinois to help Norwood collect what he was owed retained Lincoln and Herndon and sued Beebee and others in an action of debt the intent being to collect money ordered paid by the court. Beebee and others named on the replevin bond in the federal suit failed to perform the obligation of bond - they did not or would not pay. Beebee claimed that he was unable to pay because of another suit that Norwood instituted against Beebee. On March 18 1845 the case was continued and heard again in July when Lincoln filed documents allowing for concessions on both sides. It was again continued until March of 1846. Lincoln with the help of Herndon then drafted another document seemingly pointing to the another aspect of the suit and explaining why the plaintiff should not have to drop the suit. In 1846 Lincoln was running for what would be his first elected position Congressman. In August he won that election and served one term. In March he was campaigning and seeking to gain support. Autograph document signed ""Lincoln & Herndon"" Springfield late March 1846 in the hand of both partners showing their collaboration. It begins in Lincoln's hand: “And for further replication"" before switching to Herndons for the lines"" to the said plea of the said defendants by them above pleaded said plaintiff says that to be further precluded from maintaining his said action against said defendants because of the matters in said plea alleged he ought not because he says that since the pleading of the last plea by said defendants to wit on — day of February AD 1846 the said replevin suit by the said Norwood and Turner against the said Beebees in the Said plea mentioned was by the same court at which it was pending determined in favor of the said Beebees and against the said Norwood and Turner and by the judgment of said court a return of the bacon in the plea mentioned.” Lincoln hand wrote the balance: “…Mentioned was awarded to the said Beebees and also adjudged that the said Beebees should recover of and from the said Norwood and Turner the sum of $650 damages and costs of suit and this he is ready to verify. Wherefore he prays judgment.” At that time Lincoln was preparing for his run for Congress his only national election until 1860. The parties would later reach an agreement in March 1847 and the court dismissed the case. Lincoln and Herndon received fees of $25 for their legal services. A final version of this filed document is published by the Papers of Abraham Lincoln as is the judge's further March 1846 continuance. The present document is three pieces affixed either by Lincoln or at a later date. This is the only paperwork from Lincoln and Herndon’s first case we have ever seen on the market. <img class=""alignnone size-post-window wp-image-25018"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20231204144051/Folder-site-11-1600x1327.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""1327"" /> unknown
