Sep 27, 2018 - Sale 2486

Sale 2486 - Lot 2

Price Realized: $ 6,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
(AUTOGRAPHS.) Commission for a militia officer signed by Lincoln shortly before the war. Partly-printed Document Signed, a commission made out to Albert Ray as a first lieutenant in the militia of the District of Columbia. One page, 9 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches, signed by Lincoln as President and Simon Cameron as Secretary of War, with embossed war office seal; mat toning, minor foxing, short separations at folds, light offsetting from tape repairs coming through from verso. Washington, 27 March 1861

Additional Details

This commission was issued during Lincoln's short window as peace-time president, 23 days after his inauguration and 16 days before Fort Sumter. Provenance: Charles Hamilton auction, 11 December 1969, where it was described in the catalogue as "the first [earliest] military commission we have seen . . . bearing an enormous signature of Lincoln, 3 1/2" long."