Autograph note signed

"BRAVO! MY GOOD BOY": AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN ON THE EVE OF THE 1864 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

LINCOLN, Abraham. Autograph note signed. Washington, Nov. 2, 1864.

Extraordinary 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," victory in the on-going Civil War. Exceptional and revealing, especially given its brevity, this is one of the most intriguing Lincoln items we have come across. $98,000.

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Carte-de-visite photograph

"SOJOURNER TRUTH STRIDES THROUGH AMERICAN HISTORY LARGER THAN LIFE"

TRUTH, Sojourner. Carte-de-visite photograph. Washington, D.C. 1864.

Rare vintage 1864 carte-de-visite photographic portrait of Sojourner Truth, her favorite and "most famous" portrait, the iconic image personally chosen by her as the engraving and cover image for the 1875 edition of her Narrative, a handsome portrait containing the distinctive printed caption below the image and printed copyright on the card verso. $12,500.

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R. E. Lee: A Biography. WITH: Lee's Lieutenants

“A TRIUMPH OF SCHOLARLY TRIBUTE”

(LEE, Robert E.) FREEMAN, Douglas Southall. R. E. Lee: A Biography. WITH: Lee's Lieutenants. New York and London, 1945, 1946. Together, seven volumes.

Later edition of Freeman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning four-volume biography of Robert Lee, along a later edition of his equally important three-volume study of Lee's officers, handsomely and uniformly bound by Maurin. $6500.

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Dred Scott v. Sandford

“THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL DECISION OF THE CENTURY, AND PERHAPS IN THE HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COURT”

(DRED SCOTT CASE) HOWARD, Benjamin. C. Dred Scott v. Sandford. Washington, D.C. 1857.

First edition of the complete report of the landmark Dred Scott decision that divided a nation, became “a prominent cause” of the Civil War, and ultimately generated the 14th Amendment, with complete opinions of all nine judges, including that of Chief Justice Taney. $5200.

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Broadsheet ["Roll of Missing Men.----No. 4."]

EXTREMELY LARGE BROADSIDE LISTING MISSING CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS BY STATE, PART OF AN INTIATIVE SPEARHEADED BY CLARA BARTON

(BARTON, Clara). Broadsheet ["Roll of Missing Men.——No. 4."]. Washingto, 1866.

Fascinating broadside listing the names of missing Civil War soldiers, one of several such broadsides published by Clara Barton, who ultimately located more than 22,000 missing men. $4500.

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Journal of the House of Delegates... Virginia

"NEITHER SLAVERY NOR INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE… SHALL EXIST IN THE UNITED STATES"

(CONSTITUTION). Journal of the House of Delegates… Virginia. Alexandria, 1865.

First edition, one of 500 copies, of the momentous Journal featuring its February 9, 1865 entry on the Alexandria, Virginia government's passage of the 13th Amendment mere days after the U.S. Congress, the first of the four Unionist southern states to pass the Amendment, also featuring the governor's Message noting: "though we have in inherited from our fathers of the revolution the blessings of a great nation, yet they also left to us an inheritance of African slavery which has proved a bitter dreg in our cup of freedom," a vital record of forces for constitutional change near the end of the Civil War. $4500.

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Emancipation Proclamation

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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Echoes of Harper's Ferry

"THE DEATH OF JOHN BROWN IS THE BEGINNING OF THE END"

(BROWN, John) REDPATH, James. Echoes of Harper's Ferry. Boston, 1860.

First edition of one of the very first books on John Brown's Raid, edited and authored by controversial journalist James Redpath, with major writings by Emerson and Thoreau, abolitionists Theodore Parker, Wendell Phillips, George Cheever and others, along with extensive Brown correspondence, together in book form for the first time, in original cloth. $2800.

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Speeches of Gerrit Smith

"A VIOLENT END TO SLAVERY… A RECKONING FOR DEEP AND DAMNING WRONGS"

SMITH, Gerrit. Speeches of Gerrit Smith. Washington, D.C. 1854.

First edition of nine major 1854 speeches by radical abolitionist Smith, together in print for the first time, featuring elemental works such as "No Slavery in Nebraska," defying Stephen Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska bill and denouncing "the federal government as a 'bastard democracy,'" very elusive in fragile original wrappers. $1850.

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Acts of the Anti-Slavery Apostles

"THE JEREMIAH OF THE ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT"

PILLSBURY, Parker. Acts of the Anti-Slavery Apostles. Concord, N.H. 1883.

First edition of the fearless abolitionist's memoir, a distinctive presentation copy inscribed by Pillsbury to "To Mr. & Mrs. F. M. C— With sincere regards and best wishes of their friend Parker Pillsbury. Concord, New Hampshire 1894." Hailed as a "fighting book," it documents the bold tactics of this notorious radical who early warned America was "hastening to… a baptism of blood" and was praised by Emerson as a "tough oak stock of a man not to be silenced or insulted or intimidated," a splendid copy in original cloth. $1500.

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