PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN - ENGRAVING UNSIGNED - HFSID 175405

ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Bust engraving of Lincoln with facsimile signature based on a photo by Miller B. Matthews
Engraving unsigned. 3¾x4½ engraving on 6½x9¾ page. Based on photo by Miller B. Matthews, engraving by H.W. Smith. With facsimile signature "A.Lincoln" and caption below signature "Late President of the United States". Future American president 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. Adhesive residue on left edge, possibly from a book binding. Otherwise in fine condition.