PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN - ENGRAVING UNSIGNED - HFSID 175396

ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Unsigned b/w engraving of Lincoln with ornate border and facsimile signature
Unsigned engraving, 4x6 oval engraving of Lincoln with ornate 6x8 border with vignette of the Constitution at top and vignette of a "Cabinet Council" at bottom, total size 7¼ x 10 (one surface). With facsimile signature, "A.Lincoln", at bottom. Engraved by J.C. McRae, published by Wirtue & Co. Publishers, N.Y. Future Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 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 and soiled. Stained on left and top and in lower right corner. Otherwise in fine condition