• 33 • “BRAVO! MY GOOD BOY”: AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN ON THE EVE OF THE 1864 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 33LINCOLN, Abraham. Autograph Note Signed “A. Lincoln.” Washington, Nov. 2, 1864. Small sheet of wove paper, measuring 4-3/4 by 3-1/4 inches, penned on recto. $98,000 Autograph note written and signed “A. Lincoln” by President Lincoln less than a week before winning the Presidential election of 1864, referring to himself humorously as “Mr. L.” and expressing doubts about whether he would be reelected, while remaining firm about the “cause of the country.” Exceptional and revealing, this is one of the most intriguing Lincoln items we have come across. This previously undiscovered brief note to an unspecified recipient uses unusual language for the generally reserved and stoic President. He seems to congratulate, in a fatherly way, a younger man for delivering hopeful news about the upcoming election, held six days later on November 8, 1864. The note, dated “Nov. 2, 1864” in Lincoln’s hand, reads in its entirety: “Bravo! My good boy. Whether Mr. L. Shall be reelected or not, he feels sure that you will stick to the cause of the country. A. Lincoln.” This note employs what we think is Lincoln’s second known use of “Bravo.” Lincoln also rarely used the phrase “the cause of the country.” Likewise, Lincoln’s use of “Mr. L.” to refer to himself is unusual but not unprecedented. He used it frequently in the 1860 autobiography he wrote for John L. Scripps and also used it occasionally early in his presidency. We believe that the reference to “my good boy” may suggest Lincoln’s oldest son Robert T. Lincoln as the likely recipient, and the reference to “Mr. L.” in the next sentence may be tongue-in-cheek. After graduating from Harvard College in July 1864, Robert began attending Harvard Law School in September of that year. On October 11, the President telegraphed his son, “Your letter makes us a little uneasy about your health. Telegraph us how you are. If you think it would help you make us a visit.” Robert responded to his father by telegraph the same day, “Indisposition only temporarily I will write today.” Robert finally received his L.L.D. from Harvard in June 1893. Another possibility for the recipient is Lincoln’s personal secretary, John Nicholay, with whom Lincoln was very close. In late October and early November 1864, Nicolay was in Springfield, Illinois, where he was closely monitoring the progress of the campaign in Illinois. Perhaps this note was a response to one of Nicolay’s political dispatches from Springfield. “Abraham Lincoln’s private secretaries, [Nicholay and Hay] became, both literally and figuratively, closer to the president than anyone outside his immediate family. Still young men in their twenties, they lived and worked on the second floor of the White House, performing the roles and functions of a modern-day chief of staff, press secretary, political director, and presidential body man…’The boys,’ as the president affectionately called them, soon came to know him intimately…Nicolay’s rapport with Lincoln was more formal [than Hays’] but still close. “ (Zeitz, Lincoln’s Boys). Old pencil price ($150.00) on verso. Faint marginal ghosting from a previous matt, with hinges affixed along upper edge on verso. Faint fold lines. Lincoln’s signature bold and fine. An extraordinary Lincoln item.
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