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Lot 28

LINCOLN (ABRAHAM)
Letters Patent under the Seal of the United States, signed as President ("Abraham Lincoln"), counter-signed by the Acting Secretary of State ("F.W. Seward"), City of Washington, 11 April 1865

24 June 2015, 11:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £6,875 inc. premium

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LINCOLN (ABRAHAM)

Letters Patent under the Seal of the United States, signed as President ("Abraham Lincoln"), counter-signed by the Acting Secretary of State ("F.W. Seward"), recognizing the credentials of William Tasker Smith, as "Consul of Her Britannic Majesty, for the State of Georgia, to reside at Savannah"; bearing the papered Seal; docketed "William Tasker Smith, Esquire/ Exequatur", 1 page, printed with manuscript insertions, light dust-staining and creasing, but overall in fine and attractive condition, 345 x 505mm., City of Washington, 11 April 1865

Footnotes

SIGNED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN FOUR DAYS BEFORE HIS ASSASSINATION AND TWO DAYS AFTER LEE'S SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX: a document using the uncommon full form of his signature ("Abraham Lincoln"), reserved for formal documents, rather than the more usual "A. Lincoln".

Although Savannah had been taken by Union forces on 21 December, much of Georgia was still held by General Johnston's Confederate army even after Lee's surrender, and the Battle of Columbus, generally regarded as the last major battle of the war, did not take place until 16 April. British consuls had been allowed by the Confederacy to remain in place throughout the war, even though the British Government did not recognize the succeeded states; the Georgian representative residing at the Northwest corner of Bay and Bull Streets, Savannah. The post had been held by Edmund Molyneux, who died in 1864, assisted by Allen Fullarton; with William Tasker Smith, the present nominee, taking Molyneux's place at the end of the war. Their papers are now held at Emory University, Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. Georgia was to re-join the Union only in 1870.

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