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1845Best.-Nr. 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.
1860Best.-Nr. 138634Columbus: Follett Foster and Company 1860. First edition first issue of the most famous debates in American history which cemented Lincoln as a national presidential candidate; inscribed by Lincoln in pencil to close friend Martin S. Morris and accompanied by the table from the Morris household that Lincoln signed the book on. Octavo original cloth stamped in blind. First issue with no advertisements no rule above the publisher’s imprint on the copyright page and with numeral 2 at the bottom of page 17. Association copy inscribed by Abraham Lincoln in pencil on the front free endpaper "M. S. Morris Esq A. Lincoln." The recipient Martin S. Morris was was a long-time political supporter and friend of Abraham Lincoln from Menard County Illinois. In March 1843 Lincoln wrote to Morris “It is truly gratifying to me to learn that while the people of Sangamon have cast me off my friends of Menard who have known me longest and best of any still retain their confidence in me.” Morris was selected as one of the delegates from Menard County to attend the Whig convention in Pekin in May 1843 but was detained by an illness and Francis Regnier attended in his place. The convention selected John J. Hardin rather than Lincoln as the Whig candidate for Congress from that district. In June 1852 Morris's close friend Whig Congressman and later Illinois governor Richard Yates wrote to him from Washington regarding the 1852 presidential election. The Democratic National Convention was then underway in Baltimore and after 32 ballots by the convention Yates believed the chances of receiving the nomination were against U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois unless “his almost never failing good luck may avail him.” Ultimately on the 49th ballot the Convention nominated Franklin Pierce who had received no votes until the 35th ballot. Laid in is Yates' letter to Morris which reads in part “Washington June 4 1852 Dear Morris I thank you kindly. The Democratic Convention is now in session in Baltimore. The 32nd ballot has been had and no nomination. Douglass does not appear to have as much strength as anticipated and if we were to judge from present indications the chances are against him. How far his almost never failing good luck may avail him remains to be seen. The contest between Fillmore & Scott it is now believed will be very close. Some of the knowing ones who have not much to do but make calculations say that the vote of Illinois will decide the question. We do not know how the Illinois delegation stands but we suppose nearly equal for Scott and for Fillmore. Fillmore and his friends will if necessary to defeat Gen'l Scott cast their vote for Mr. Webster. My opinion and it is only an opinion is that Gen'l Scott will receive the nomination. Of one thing I feel pretty sure that either Scott or Fillmore will be supported most cheerfully by the Whigs and what is better the Whigs here and throughout the Union have an abiding confidence that they will again gloriously triumph in November. Such was not the case at the beginning of the session. There was more or less of despondency then but the skies are bright ahead now and be the result what it may the Whigs will march up to the work with unfaltering purpose and in the confident hope of victory. Your friend Richard Yates." The Whig National Convention met a few weeks later also in Baltimore and the contest remained close between Winfield Scott and incumbent president Millard Fillmore with Daniel Webster running a distant third until Scott finally received the nomination on the 53rd ballot. In his letter to Morris Yates was confident of a Whig victory in November but Pierce went on to defeat Scott with 51 percent of the vote to Scott’s 44 percent and an overwhelming 254-to-42 victory in the Electoral College. In May 1858 Morris wrote to Lincoln that he and other Republicans in Menard County “are up and doing” and “though we are in a minority we nevertheless intend to give them the Democrats the best fight we can.” Four months later he again wrote to “Friend Lincoln”: "If there is any reliance to be placed on the papers which I read you are certainly making a very successful electioneering tour through the state and whether you are elected to the senate or not you certainly have reason to congratulate yourself and feel proud of the manifestations of confidence every where shown you by the people I have said and believed ever since Douglass repealed the MO. Com. That you would be his successor the first chance the people had to vote in matter that was a most rascally thing and I believe would and know it ought to politically damn him and all who had anything to do with it at least in the north. But my object is not to write a dissertation on politicks knowing well that I could say nothing But which you already know But merely to inform you by way of adding to the encouragement which I believe you are every where receiving the good news that you may calculate with a very great degree of certainty on a vote from Menard & Cass. We are glad that you have made an appointment to speak here and will endeavor to get you a large crowd." Contrary to Morris’s assurances in the race for state representative from Cass and Menard Democrat William Engle defeated Republican James W. Judy for a seat in the legislature where he dutifully voted for Stephen A. Douglas for the U.S. Senate. In September 1859 Morris was a delegate from Menard County to the Republican Congressional Convention for the Sixth Congressional District in Springfield. At the Convention Morris was elected to the District Central Committee which consisted of one delegate from each county. Among the resolutions passed by the Convention were “Resolved That the Territories of the United States are the common property of all the free white citizens of the whole Union but that the institution of Slavery has no right or heritage therein.but at the same time we strenuously oppose every attempt to interfere with slavery in the States where it now exists.” and “Resolved That Freedom is universal and Slavery sectional and cannot exist where it is not authorized by virtue of special local legislation; and that the Government of the United States in the exercise of its powers whether executive legislative or judicial is bound to adhere in substance and in form to the generous and noble spirit of these important maxims.” 6 Less than a month later John Brown did “interfere with slavery in the States where it now exists” by seizing the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry Virginia. In 1862 Morris wrote to President Lincoln on behalf of his friend Henry Clay Denison who was serving as a commissary clerk in the 14th Illinois Infantry regiment. Denison wanted a position as assistant quartermaster or assistant commissary in the army. Morris stressed that Denison was “a descendant of a good Whig family of the good old Whig state of Vermont his native place being Woodstock. He is also as good a Republican as lives and if he didn’t do as much he tried as hard as any one else to bring about your nomination &election.” President Lincoln dutifully forwarded the letter to the War Department. With Yates' June 1852 letter to Morris laid in and with the ownership inscription of Morris' great granddaughter beneath Lincoln's inscription “Property of Pauline Madgett Welton Lincoln’s signature above." Provenance: kept in the Morris family for over six generations Martin S. Morris 1816-1884 husband of Elizabeth Waggoner Morris 1820-1901; Their daughter Jane Eliza Morris Nance 1857-1927 wife of Benjamin Franklin Nance 1853-1914; Their daughter Pauline E. Nance Madgett 1879-1971 wife of William P. Madgett 1875-1951; Their daughter Pauline Helen Madgett Welton 1908-1978 wife of Claude R. Welton 1908-1978; Their son William R. Welton 1939-2014; Welton family. Ownership inscription of Pauline Helen Madgett Welton. In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Exceptionally rare signed by Lincoln with no other signed copies traced at auction. Accompanied by the original pedestal table from the Morris household that according to generations of family lore Lincoln sat at with Morris signed the book and ate apples as well as an oil portrait of Martin S. Morris which hung by the table. With a letter of provenance signed by a descendant of Pauline Helen Madgett Welton attesting to the provenance of the book table and a portrait. According to Rae Katherine Eighmey Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen: A Culinary View 2014 fellow lawyer Charles S. Zane recalled Lincoln at a circuit town inn: "There was a 'large basket of apples in the sitting room and we were invited to help ourselves. Mr. Lincoln was a great eater of apples. He said to me once that a man should eat and drink only that which is conducive to his own health. "Apples" he said "agree with me."'" p. 131 citing Zane's article in the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society in 1921. According to Eighmey Herndon wrote of Lincoln: "He loved best the vegetable world generally.and especially did he love apples. Running as a little-known candidate for the Illinois senatorship in 1858 Lincoln challenged incumbent and Democratic leader Stephen Douglas to a series of debates. The result was a memorable chain of lively arguments in front of cheering crowds. Though Lincoln lost the senatorial race “he began collecting a scrapbook of his best speeches particularly those from the just-concluded campaign against Douglas for possible inclusion in a book. Assiduously pasting newspaper accounts of the debates into the scrapbook Lincoln cast about for a publisher. Initial efforts failed mainly because Lincoln wanted the book printed in Springfield which had no local publishing or printing facilities. Eventually however the Columbus Ohio firm of Follett Foster & Company showed interest and he began preparing the first edition… Somewhat surprisingly for an attorney Lincoln did not seek Douglas’ permission to publish a book of their combined speeches although Douglas was later given the last-minute opportunity—he declined—to make corrections to his own remarks” Morris 121. Follett, Foster and Company hardcover
1836Best.-Nr. 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
1836Best.-Nr. 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
1847Best.-Nr. 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
1861Best.-Nr. 32820663One page. Beautifully presented in a spectacular 19th-century carved wood frame with surmounted eagle. Abraham Lincoln writing at the outset of the Civil War recommends that the Army admit three volunteers from the highly divided city of Baltimore. He advises Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas "I hate to reject any volunteers offered from what is called a Southern State." Maryland's Southern sympathies were of paramount concern to Lincoln. On February 23 1861 learning of a rumored assassination plot president-elect Lincoln passed through Baltimore in secrecy to reach Washington. On April 19 1861 just a week after the surrender of Fort Sumter a mob killed four soldiers and wounded thirty-six more when the 6th Massachusetts Infantry passed through Baltimore en route to Washington. A week later Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus to maintain control in the state. Maryland's governor had ordered the militia to burn railroad bridges north of the city to prevent more federal troops from coming through the city. Finally on May 13 federal troops occupied the city quelling pro-Confederate unrest. In this fine letter written just days later Lincoln asks Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas "The three gentlemen who will hand you this note belong to an Artillery Company at Baltimore who wish to get into the United States service. Please give them an interview; and after they explain their case if you advise it I will receive them. I hate to reject any offered from what is called a Southern State." This outstanding letter from the earliest days of the Civil War reflects Lincoln's intense desire to keep the people of Baltimore Maryland and the neighboring border states in the Union and to bring in new recruits wherever he could find them. Important Lincoln letters relating to his concern about Baltimore and Maryland in the early days of his presidency are of great rarity. OFFERED WITH: Silk U.S. Flag Bunting from the Presidential Box at Ford's Theatre the Night of the Assassination. Ford's Theatre April 14 1865. Section of an American flag in two pieces upper half 6 1â„2 x 8 1â„4 in. lower half 6 1â„4 x 7 1â„2 in. Horizontal separations light loss and fraying some stains. Oriented vertically. Handsomely framed. This is a section of the bunting from the presidential box at Ford's Theatre where Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14 1865. Harry C. Ford manager of stage shows at Ford's Theatre preserved the bunting and a few weeks later gave this section to John A. Ellinger see Provenance. The bunting has an impeccable provenance. It came into the possession of Oliver R. Barrett perhaps the greatest of all Lincoln collectors and it was sold at his Parke Bernet auction in 1952. Elsie O. and Philip D. Sang the leading Lincoln and Civil War collectors of the second half of the century then acquired it. The bunting was sold in 1981 at the fifth Sang sale and has since been owned by two other leading Lincoln collectors Dr. John K. Lattimer and Dr. Blaine Houmes. "The term 'draped" used by Ellinger who received the bunting from Ford would seem to indicate that this piece was from one of the two flags draped on the presidential-box balustrades and not mounted on a pole. … Known Provenance: Oliver R. Barrett Lincoln Collection … It is not known where the item is today" "The Oliver R. Barrett artifact" in Smyth & Garrett The Lincoln Assassination: The Flags of Ford's Theatre p. 70. This is an evocative relic from a sacred place in American memory and one of the most momentous events in American history. Please inquire for more details.
1851Best.-Nr. 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.
1603Best.-Nr. 12725Antwerp Jan Baptist Vrients / Robert Brunaeu 1603. Theatrum orbis terrarium followed by Parergon sive veteris Geograpiae aliquot tabulae followed by Nomenclator Ptolemaicus. Complete copy bound in a contemporary vellum binding stamped with multiple friezes on the covers and 5 raised bands on the spine 358 f. Folio. Illustrated edition with an engraved allegorical frontispiece the arms of the Kingdom of Spain on the verso an engraved portrait of Ortelius an architectural frontispiece Parergon and 156 engravings. including 151 engraved maps 33 of which are in the Parergon as well as 3 plates of views and 2 plates of costumes. Some pages of the text are foxed and the stamp has been scratched off on the title page. Restoration work at the bottom of the two costume plates. Reinforcement in the margin of the inner hinges of 7 maps. H. 46 x W. 32 x D. 10 cm. / H. 18.11 x W. 12.6 x D. 3.94 inch. The finest edition of this iconic atlas considered to be the first true atlas the first true atlas Van der Broecke. ""The unique place occupied by Ortelius' Theatrum in the history of cartography is mainly due to its status as the world's first regularly produced atlas . Its form and content set the standards for subsequent atlases"" Koeman 1969 III 29. 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. A perfectly complete copy of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum the Parergon and the Nomenclator Ptolemaicus in its original colours. Literature: Van de Krogt/ Koeman IIIA 31:053; Adams O-335; Phillips 382; Shirley 122 Antwerp, Jan Baptist Vrients / Robert Brunaeu hardcover
Best.-Nr. 110508Antwerp Jan Baptist Vrients 1603. . Large folio 480 x 300mm; Theatrum text in Latin engraved title coat of arms epigraph and portrait of Ortelius all coloured by a contemporary hand with gilded detailing 118 plates all coloured by a contemporary hand all woodcut initials coloured by a contemporary hand some light variable spotting and offsetting marginal spitting a few repaired tears; Parergon engraved title and 38 plates all coloured by a contemporary hand some light spotting and offsetting a few small tears; Nomenclator title page with hand-coloured vignette; finely bound in modern red morocco spine richly gilt in 8 compartments green ties. One of the largest and finest editions of Ortelius's Theatrum. One of the largest and finest editions of Ortelius's Theatrum comprising 156 plates handsomely coloured by a contemporary hand. Ortelius geographer to King Philip II of Spain is credited with having authored the first modern atlas the Theatrum orbis terrarum. Following Ortelius' death his copperplates were acquired by the map engraver and publisher Jan Baptist Vrients 1552-1613 who published the present Latin edition in 1603 with the printer Robert Bruneau see colophon of the Nomenclator adding several new maps including of England and Germany. Van Den Broecke 20 & 57; Van der Krogt IIIA 31:053. Antwerp, Jan Baptist Vrients, 1603. unknown
1864Best.-Nr. 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.
1849Best.-Nr. 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
1864Best.-Nr. 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
Best.-Nr. 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
1498Best.-Nr. 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
1865Best.-Nr. 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
1571Best.-Nr. 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
1570Best.-Nr. B6632Colophon: Antwerp: Gielis von Diest 1572-1573 Durch Abrahamum Ortelium. c. 1572 & 1570 -1595. occasional minor damp staining map of Morocco rebacked; rare oxidization spots otherwise a very good example. Binding: Expertly rebacked in style; saving the armorial seventeenth century heavily gilt panelled full red calf with Louis xiv’s fleur-de-lis bookplates on upper and lower covers; spine raised with six 6 bands gilt ornamented compartments and gilt lettered title on two; inner gilt dentelles. Notes: The 1572 German special edition plus other early maps.First very rare German 1572 edition in contemporary colour bound with maps from editions up to 1595. 1572 Atlas with text in German and captions in Latin; extra plates in Latin one in Spanish. A5v Ortelius publ. “Abraham Ortelius or Ortels or Orthellius or Wortels 1527–1598 was a … cartographer geographer and cosmographer conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum…. Along with Gemma Frisius and Gerardus Mercator Ortelius is generally considered one of the founders of the Netherlandish school of cartography and geography. He was also one of the most notable figures of the school in its golden age approximately 1570s–1670s. The publication of his atlas in 1570 is often considered as the official beginning of the Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography. … On 20 May 1570 Gilles Coppens de Diest at Antwerp issued Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum the "first modern atlas" of 53 maps…. Three Latin editions of this besides a Dutch a French and a German edition appeared before the end of 1572. …” Tooley states: "The publication of this atlas marked an epoch in the history of cartography. It was the first uniformly sized systematic collection of maps of the countries of the world based only on contemporary knowledge". “The present work is the first German edition of the Theatrum with the German title “Theatrum oder Schawplatz des Erdtbodems …” The plates are identical; however the Index/ Register is reduced/ absent as explained at A5v of the German edition or Ortelius’ to the Reader or “Abraham Ortelius// Zum guetwilligen Leser.” Shirley states: “From the first atlas in 1570 with 53 map sheets the work grew in size so that the final edition in 1612 contained over 160 items. Initially new maps were issued through a series of Additamenta between 1573 and 1597; in addition a classical addendum called the Parergon was produced from 1579 onwards.” "Shape and contents set the standards for later atlases when the centre of the map-trade moved from Antwerp to Amsterdam. The characteristic feature of the Theatrum is that it consists of two elements forming part of a unitary whole: text and maps. This concept for a 'Theatre of the world' was followed through the 17th century. Before Ortelius no one had done this" Koeman. Koeman 1961 mentions on p.138/ under 49.1 the 1572 German text edition following its 1570 Latin ‘Theatrum orbis terrarum’. Size: Folio 414x285mm Illustration: Illustrated allegorical title; ornamental woodcut initials at openings of poetry dedication explanation of the allegorical title and the “to the Reader” as well as each of the 53 openings of explanatory texts preceding each plate; head and endpieces; all fifty-three 53 double page plates reflecting the same plates first published in the 1570 Latin edition; and various literature mention that only the first German edition is similar to First Latin edition. moreover the second edition had extra plates. the twenty 20 further double page plates representing twenty-eight 28 early maps this includes small insert maps dating up to 1595 both in contemporary hand colour and uncoloured. References: Lilly Library Indiana University Bloomington The Bernando Mendel Collection 1964: p.42; Koeman vol.III: pp.25-33; Shirley I: p.771 Pages: Ll: Bl. A1-6 with title and texts of poetry dedication explanation of allegory in title and to the reader; ill 53 DP plates; ill 20 interspersed DP plates bl. Category: Book Europe Germany; Book Atlas & Cartography; (Colophon: Antwerp: Gielis von Diest, 1572-[1573]) Durch Abrahamum Ortelium. unknown
1715Best.-Nr. 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
1844Best.-Nr. ABC_45290Leiden & Düsseldorf 1844. Elephant folio 55.5 × 73.5 cm. Arnz & Co. Stored loosely in the original publishers cloth-backed printed boards. Tinted lithographed title-page with a pictorial border comprising 11 scenes of hawking by J. B. Sonderland 2 hand-coloured lithographed plates of falconry equipment by Portman and Von Wouw and 10 of 12 hand-coloured lithographed plates of hawks by Wendel after Joseph Wolf 8 mounted on paperboard. 4 90 VI 2 pp. First and only edition of a superb work the finest work on falconry that has ever been produced both on account of the beauty of the plates and general accuracy of the text. The lifesize illustrations of the birds are by far the finest ever produced in any book on falconry. It is impossible to describe the mellowness and beauty of the colourings Schwerdt. This famous book on falconry by H. Schlegel and A.H. Verster van Wulverhorst is known chiefly for its lifesize coloured illustrations of birds of prey lithographs after watercolours by Josef Wolf. The extensive research in the literature and the description of procedures by two laymen in the field of falconry still cause amazement among falconers.The work contains 17 illustrations: successively the tinted title-page two coloured plates with hunting gear and falconer's equipment two tinted plates of pictures of the activities of the Loo Hawking Club not present and 12 coloured plates with images of birds of prey in their natural surroundings.The last twelve plates show magnificent figures of hawks. Perhaps the most famous is that of the Groenlandais or white gyrfalcon which Tuijn shows to have been based on a portrait of the bird by Pierre Louis Dubourcq 1815-73. The other plates are from originals by Josef Wolf 1820-99 the German artist who ranks among the world's finest animal painters Jackson.Covers of portfolio somewhat rubbed and stained; spine cloth and extremeties professionally restored. Some foxing and browning in the plates; several marginal tears and chips professionally repaired; rebacked. Lacks 2 lithographed hawking scenes by J. Dillmann after Sonderland. Still an attractive set rarely encountered in the original portfolio as issued.l Harting p. 194 The finest work on falconry which has ever been produced; Nissen IVB 832; Schwerdt II 150; Thiebaud 833; Zimmer p. 554; Pieter Tuijn On the Traité de fauconnerie 1845-53 in: Quaerendo 25 1995 pp. 289-306. ABE CAT Falconry & Hunting HORSES HUNTING SPORTS & GAMES NATURAL HISTORY / Zoology Birds - Ornithology Falconry Fishing & Hunting ZZ NATURAL HISTORY / Oud hardcover
1864Best.-Nr. 132045Washington D.C.: War Department Adjutant General's Office 1864-1869. Rare autograph Oath of December 8 endorsement signed and entirely in the hand of the 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln with an exceedingly rare contemporary printing of Lincoln's Amnesty Proclamation which includes the wording of the oath itself and a rare carte-de-visite of Lincoln Providence RI: Salisbury Bro. & Co. n.d. One page the endorsement is signed and inscribed by Lincoln “Let these men take the oath of Dec. 8 1863 & be discharged – A. Lincoln Dec. 30 1863.” One page disbound the contemporary printing of the Amnesty Proclamation consists of 6 pages printed by order of the Secretary of War: E.D. Townsend Washington D.C.: War Department Adjutant General's Office February 18 1864. Lincoln issued the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in his annual message to Congress on December 8 1863. In the message Lincoln declared that he would offer a pardon to any man who would swear without coercion his allegiance to the Union. This provided then a general pardon to soldiers in the Rebellion and to those too who deserted the Union cause. All Southerners except for high-ranking Confederate army officers and government officials could be granted a full pardon by taking the oath and Lincoln guaranteed Southerners that he would protect their private property though not their slaves. The oath read in part “I do solemnly swear in presence of Almighty God that I will henceforth faithfully support protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States thereunder; and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all acts of congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves so long and so far as not repealed modified or held void by Congress or by decision of the Supreme Court; and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves so long and so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the Supreme Court. So help me God.” Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures 17 inches by 19 inches. The autograph pardon is in very good condition. The carte-de-visite is in fine condition. The contemporary printing of the Amnesty Pardon is in fine condition and is exceedingly rare with only one other copy appearing at auction over the course of the past century. An exceptional grouping of Lincolnalia. 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. War Department, Adjutant General's Office unknown
1890Best.-Nr. 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
1866Best.-Nr. 32820664Perhaps the most delightful of the Lincoln family photographs this portrait shows an impish Tad leaning on a table as his seemingly bemused father sits on Gardner's studio chair. Thomas "Tad" Lincoln was the youngest of the Lincoln boys. Abraham Lincoln an indulgent father let his children run wild at his law offices and at the White House. His law partner William H. Herndon recounted "I have felt many and many a time that I wanted to wring their little necks and yet out of respect for Lincoln I kept my mouth shut. Lincoln did not note what his children were doing or had done."Lincoln sat for this portrait at Alexander Gardner's studio on February 5 1865. Just a month later he delivered the Second Inaugural Address and within weeks he was assassinated. It would be his final sitting for Gardner who made five poses that day. This fine portrait does not show the heavy retouching evident in later prints By this date the end of the Civil War seemed to be drawing near. The war years had taken a heavy toll on Lincoln and on the nation. Horace Greeley observed "his face was haggard with care and seamed with thought and trouble. It looked care-ploughed tempest-tossed and weatherbeaten." Albumen print 14 x 10 in. card mount. Minimal wear and fading two spots at the upper left. Good tones. An excellent photograph. Framed. Ostendorf Lincoln's Photographs O-114. This fine portrait is the largest example we have seen and a scarce survival showing Lincoln as a loving father. Gardner
1863Best.-Nr. 2972001/09/1863. A powerful letter showing Lincoln's direct involvement with the chief judicial military officer showing the merciful Lincoln at work and showing his prioritizing retaining experienced veterans in the service <img class=""alignnone size-post-window wp-image-29790"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20240123003955/Lincoln-Sept-1-1863-3-1600x295.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""295"" /> The Judge Advocate General of the United States Army is the senior officer of the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army. The position was abolished but then reinstated in 1849. In 1862 Lincoln appointed his first Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt only the second since 1783. He named Joseph Holt. Holt joined the Army as a colonel in 1862. As Judge Advocate General of the Army Holt oversaw the expansion of military law to include the military prosecutions of citizens who were not in the military service. By the time he joined the Army he believed that the only means to prevent treason from occurring again was to ensure that slavery was abolished for all time and eventually equal treatment under the law enforced in the South. At the beginning of the Civil War Joseph Carbery Lay had an office in Washington D. C. as an agent for the transaction of all kinds of business including procuring patents pensions back pay purchase and sale of real estate writing of deeds releases and other instruments regarding settlement of accounts with and claims against the Government. He quickly enlisted in the 12th Infantry Regiment of the Regular Army as a lieutenant. During the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862 the 12th Infantry distinguished itself in its first combat action at the Battle of Gaines Mill in June 1862 while sustaining fifty percent casualties. Lay was a captain at that time. <img class=""alignnone size-post-window wp-image-29789"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20240123003932/Lincoln-Sept-1-1863-2-1600x746.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""746"" /> Captain Joseph Carbery Lay was cashiered - dismissed - from the Army on July 21 1862 for being drunk on duty and breach of arrest. Lay felt that an injustice had been done and wanted the dismissal revoked. In 1863 the matter came to the attention of President Lincoln who insisted on seeing the record of the case. He was always anxious to prevent injustice from being done and even a case in which alleged drunkenness was involved was not beneath his notice. Autograph letter signed as President on Executive Mansion letterhead Washington September 1 1863 to the Judge Advocate General insisting that he receive the records in Lay’s case. “Sir: I am told that Carbery Lay a Captain in the 12th. Regular Infantry has been dismissed by a Court-Martial. Please get the record and examine the case & report to me. Yours truly A. Lincoln.” <img class=""alignnone size-post-window wp-image-29791"" src=""https://cdn.raabcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/20240123004036/Lincoln-Sept-1-1863-4-1600x491.jpg"" alt="""" width=""1600"" height=""491"" /> Lincoln prioritized retaining experienced veterans in the service and sided with Lay as is indicated by the fact that Lay was reinstated by being appointed a lieutenant in the Seventeenth Infantry on October 30 1863 less than two months after this letter. While Lay was serving in that unit in 1863 it was present in engagements at Rappahannock Station and on Mine Run and marched with it until going into winter camp. In 1864 the regiment took part in the Wilderness Campaign and the operations before Petersburg inscribing on its colors Laurel Hill North Anna Bethesda Church Cold Harbor and Petersburg; while its records show in addition that it was also engaged at Spotsylvania Court House and the battle of the Wilderness. Lay’s problems were not over however as in June 1864 he was accused of having returned to his home in Washington without leave. He came back to base soon after and made a statement that he had been ill and sent to hospital and then had a difficult time rejoining his regiment. Perhaps to avoid disciplinary action he resigned from the Army a few months later on September 12 1864. Over the years we’ve had just a handful of letters showing the kindly merciful Lincoln at work and none to Holt. <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
1863Best.-Nr. 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
1863Best.-Nr. 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
