united states Pony Express to Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
This cover (to our right) was carried via Pony Express to Abraham Lincoln from an unknown sender in between the contentious convention of May 1860 and the general election in November. During this time Lincoln was quite reclusive, making few speeches and writing almost no letters. It is nearly impossible to imagine the future president's mindset at this time, with both the Republican Party and the United States on the brink of war. The fact that the only Pony Express cover addressed to Abraham Lincoln also bears one of the service's rarest markings (the carmine Running Pony) only enhances the appeal of this spectacular item. While we tend to err on the side of caution when using superlatives, the last time this cover was sold by Christie's in 1991 it was said to be "considered by many to be the most important Pony Express cover in existence". The prominance with which this cover has been featured in promotional material for the ParkeBernet Knapp sale in 1941, the Nathan and Boggs book in 1962, and the Christie's sale of the "Edwards" Collection in 1991 (where it received both the front and back covers) certainly speak to the veracity of such a statement. 44
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