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ABRAHAM LINCOLN

“Towering genius distains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored.”
--Abraham Lincoln, January 27, 1838 Lyceum Address

Widely regarded as one of the greatest American presidents, Lincoln material is highly sought after by collectors. Autograph material is sometimes available, and especially striking are official government documents signed by Lincoln as president. Early printings of key works in Lincoln’s career—the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address—demonstrate the “towering genius” of the humble Railsplitter. 


“The President impressed me more favourably than I had hoped. A frank, sincere, well meaning man, with a lawyer's habit of mind, good clear statement of his fact, correct enough, not vulgar, as described, but with a boyish cheerfulness...”
--Ralph Waldo Emerson's Journal, February, 1862

His life cut short after the triumph of Lee’s surrender, works and ephemera about the first assassination of a president provide a glimpse into the nation’s mourning. His legacy was continued in the landmark edition of his works prepared by Nicolay and Hay, his personal secretaries. 

Our current offerings on the 16th President of the United States are below. If you are searching for something in particular, or would like recommendations, please email us

Found 16 books(s). Showing results 1 thru 16.
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EXTRAORDINARY EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED AND EXQUISITELY BOUND 24-VOLUME SET OF LINCOLN’S WORKS, WITH ONE VOLUME COMPLETELY DEVOTED TO ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS AND SIGNATURES, INCLUDING A RARE SIGNED SET OF LINCOLN SHIP'S PAPERS FOR A WHALING VESSEL AND SIGNATURES, LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS BY VAN BUREN, BUCHANAN, PIERCE AND OTHERS

LINCOLN, Abraham. The Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln. New York, 1905. Twenty-four volumes.

“New and Enlarged” edition of the Presidential Edition of Nicolay and Hay’s monumental collection of Lincoln’s works: a stated “unique extra-illustrated copy,” expanded from 12 volumes to 24 with more than four hundred plates—engraved and mounted portraits of Lincoln, his contemporaries and rivals; maps and views of Civil War battles; and printed manuscript facsimiles—beautifully and sumptuously bound in full morocco-gilt with inlaid morocco, Art Nouveau floral decorations, and a watercolor miniature of Lincoln’s log cabin home in every volume. With final volume containing a cut signature and a rare and desirable set of ship's papers for a whaling ship signed by Lincoln, a clipped signature of Martin Van Buren, ship's papers signed by James Buchanan, and over 30 additional document and signatures from such notable Americans as Charles Sumner, William Seward, Hannibal Hamlin and Robert Todd Lincoln. An altogether splendid, impressive and desirable production. $67,500.

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SIGNED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN: RARE OFFICIAL PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENT DATED JULY 7, 1863—ONLY DAYS AFTER GETTYSBURG AND VICKSBURG, AND THE SAME DAY HE DECLARED IN A SPEECH "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL"—ORDERING NEW YORK TO DRAFT THOUSANDS UNDER THE UNPOPULAR 1863 CONSCRIPTION ACT THAT TRIGGERED, LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER THIS DOCUMENT, THE BLOODY NEW YORK DRAFT RIOTS

LINCOLN, Abraham. Document signed. City of Washington, July 9, 1863.

Fine July 7, 1863 official presidential order signed by Lincoln shortly after the Union's powerful but costly victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, here calling for New York to draft thousands of men under the controversial March 3, 1863 Conscription Act, a law that would provoke the bloody New York draft riots that erupted only six days after the date of this rare Civil War signed document. Handsomely framed with a portrait of Lincoln. $49,000.

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INTERESTING 1861 LETTER FROM GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT AS COMMANDER OF THE WESTERN ARMIES DURING THE CIVIL WAR, PROMOTING AN OFFICER, LAWYER, AND ELECTOR FROM OHIO KNOWN TO LINCOLN TO THE RANK OF MAJOR, ENDORSED AND SIGNED BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN

LINCOLN, Abraham. Autograph endorsement signed. Washington, DC, 1861.

An interesting Lincoln signed endorsement as President during the Civil War, on an autograph letter signed from renowned western explorer, military officer, politician, and Presidential candidate General John C. Frémont, writing as Commander of the Western Armies promoting Richard Corwine to Major, "subject to the approval and confirmation of the President of the United States," with Lincoln's endorsement on the verso: "Approved. A. Lincoln." A prominent Ohio lawyer and Republican elector, Corwine and Lincoln corresponded before the Republican convention; Corwine was a member of the Ohio delegation that famously changed a number of its votes to put Lincoln over the top as nominee on the fourth ballot. $25,000.

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"FOR THE FIRST TIME LINCOLN HAD PUBLICLY DENOUNCED A DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT… FORESHADOWED THE APPROACH HE WOULD TAKE DURING THE SENATE DEBATES WITH DOUGLAS"

LINCOLN, Abraham. Speech… in Reply to Judge Douglas. WITH: DOUGLAS, Stephen. Kansas, Utah, and the Dred Scott Decision. Springfield, Illinois, 1857. Two items.

First separate printing of Lincoln's bold 1857 Speech, delivered two weeks after Stephen A. Douglas' provocative address on Dred Scott (included here), very rare together in original folio first printings, with Lincoln’s breakthrough Speech a clear assertion of the Declaration’s "all men are created equal" as a "maxim for a free society… and value of life to all people of all colors everywhere," leading up to his famous “House Divided” speech. $17,500.

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"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND"

LINCOLN, Abraham. Speech of Hon. Abraham Lincoln. Springfield, 1858.

First and only separate printing of this "trial balloon" speech, in which Lincoln defines equality between blacks and whites, leading up to the famous series of debates with Stephen Douglas. First printings of any of Lincoln's speeches are quite scarce. $7800.

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"THE MOST POPULAR LINCOLN BIOGRAPHY YET WRITTEN": SIGNED BY SANDBURG

(LINCOLN) SANDBURG, Carl. Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years. New York, 1926. Two volumes.

Signed limited first edition of Sandburg's first biography of Lincoln, number 112 of only 260 copies printed, signed by Sandburg on the limitation page. $4000.

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HANDSOME LARGE CALLIGRAPHIC PORTRAIT LITHOGRAPH OF LINCOLN CREATED FROM THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

LINCOLN, Abraham. Emancipation Proclamation. Iowa, 1865.

Original large calligraphic portrait lithograph of Abraham Lincoln created from the text of the Emancipation Proclamation, with portions of the text highlighted to create a portrait of Lincoln clearly visible within the text, designed by W.H. Pratt. $3800.

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SCARCE 1864 LINCOLN PLATFORM BROADSIDE,“FOREVER PROHIBITING THE EXISTENCE OF SLAVERYWITHIN THE UNITED STATES”

LINCOLN, Abraham. The Platforms. No place, after August 29, 1864.

First broadside side-by-side publication of the Democratic and Republican platforms for 1864 election year (Lincoln v. McClellan), clearly referencing slavery as the cause of the Civil War. $3500.

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“ALL DESERTERS RETURNING WITHIN SIXTY DAYS… SHALL BE PARDONED”:
LINCOLN’S BROADSIDE PROCLAMATION RELATIVE TO PARDONS, 1864,
FIRST PUBLIC NOTICE

LINCOLN, Abraham. Proclamation Relative to Pardons for Deserters. Washington, 1864.

First public notice of the February 24, 1864 Presidential proclamation regarding deserters, appended to the amended conscription Act of 1863. $3500.

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LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION, "WHICH WAS MEANT TO SEVER" THE UNION, "BINDS IT MORE CLOSELY AND MORE FIRMLY THAN EVER"

(LINCOLN, Abraham) (BANCROFT, George). National Freedman… V.I, No.4. New York, 1865.

First issue of the May 1, 1865 issue of National Freedman, published shortly after Lincoln's assassination, featuring one of the earliest records of the nation's grief, along with George Bancroft's April 25 Oration delivered in New York's Union Square, and numerous documented accounts from the South on the dire needs of formerly enslaved families, as well as a report on a White House meeting between President Johnson and Bureau officials, especially scarce in original wrappers. $2500.

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“BY FAR THE BEST”

(LINCOLN, Abraham) HOLLAND, Josiah Gilbert. Life of Abraham Lincoln. Springfield, Massachusetts, 1866.

First edition of Holland’s “timely and popular” biography of Lincoln, published the year after his assassination, with four steel-engraved plates, including frontispiece portrait of Lincoln, scarce in publisher’s three-quarter calf gilt. $850.

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INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY CARL SANDBURG

(LINCOLN) SANDBURG, Carl. Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years. New York, 1946. Two volumes.

Second trade edition, later printing, of the initial two volumes in Sandburg's monumental biography of Lincoln, inscribed by Sandburg on the front free endpaper of Volume I: "Robert and Kate Kestnbaum, Ever good wishes, Carl Sandburg, 1959." $750.

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