PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN - ENGRAVING UNSIGNED - HFSID 175388

ABRAHAM LINCOLN
B/w 9¼x11½ engraved oval bust vignette by H. B. Hall's Sons of Abraham Lincoln in a suit and bow tie, with facsimile signature "Yours forever & ever"
Unsigned engraving. Pencil notations in unknown hand in upper right corner. B/w, 3¾x4¼ engraving on 9¼x11½ page, one surface. With facsimile signature: "Yours forever & ever/A. Lincoln". Engraved by H. B. Hall's Sons of New York. Future American president Lincoln (1809-1865, born near Hodgenville, Kentucky), on the advice of Whig legislator (and future law partner) John Todd Stuart, became a lawyer in 1836. In 1837, Lincoln moved to Springfield, where he became a partner in Stuart's law firm. From 1834 until he left for Washington, D.C. as President-elect, Lincoln's law offices were located above Seth Tinsley's store in Springfield. Lincoln, who became one of the most respected and successful lawyers in Illinois, handled some 5,100 cases and appeared before the Illinois State Supreme Court over 400 times over his 23-year legal career, which also included a long association (1844-1865) with another partner, William Henry Herndon. Before being elected President, Lincoln also served in the Illinois State Legislature (1834-1841) and one term (1847-1849) as a U.S. Congressman. He's best known, of course, as the 16th president of the United States (1861-1865), and especially as the Union's president during the Civil War (1861-1865) and writer of the Emancipation Proclamation. He was actively involved in military planning, swapping generals to find an aggressive commander of the Union army. Though his involvement cost the Union an early loss at the First Battle of Bull Run, his policies of blockading and overwhelming the Confederate army with superior numbers would eventually win the day. His primary objective was to reunite the United States, not end slavery. However, he signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 in response to rising abolition feelings in the Union. He was shot while sitting in Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1965, only a few months after being sworn in for his second term as president and only two days after the Confederate Army's official surrender, and died the next day. He was succeeded by vice-president Andrew Johnson. Lightly toned, soiled, foxed and creased, otherwise in fine condition.