Lincoln Collection Brochure

The Unique A braham Lincoln HISTOR IC M A N USCR IP T S COLLEC T ION

A rare opportunity to own museum-quality documents by America’s greatest president.

Seth K aller Inc. Historic Documents & Legacy Collections

The L asting L egac y

of

H istoric D ocu ments

Seth Kaller is a leading expert in acquiring, authenticating and appraising rare historic documents. For more than 20 years he has worked with individuals and institutions to build major collections and manage donations.

Seth Kaller Inc. can help you enjoy an inspirational connection to your favorite historic figure, era, or event.

Start Your Own Collection Important documents and artifacts can be proudly displayed in your home or office, and also loaned, placed on deposit, or donated to ensure their survival for generations to come. Whether you are interested in Documents of Freedom, Battles and Leaders, Founding Fathers, the Civil War, African-Americana, or a favorite issue, hero or villain, we can help you explore the opportunity of owning history. Visit our website to see a selection from our inventory. Even better, give us a call to discuss your interests.

Immortality Shape your legacy by preserving history for generations to come. Imagine the pride you can have in creating a world-class collection at your alma mater or a favorite museum. We have considerable experience working with tax professionals to help maximize the benefit of investing in history.

Museum Quality, Private Ownership Many people are surprised to learn that world-changing historic documents can be owned privately. In fact, most of the great collections in museums and libraries were originally assembled by private collectors with a passion for history.

Values That Stand the Test of Time Considering their importance, documents are undervalued compared to many other tangible assets. Supply is increasingly limited; a significant percentage of important documents sold over the last 50 years are now in institutional collections and will not come back on the market. Demand has increased as collectors have more display options than ever before, and museums and libraries are built or restructured to use original documents and artifacts as teaching tools. To illustrate a long history of price appreciation, we have compiled a list of documents sold in the last ten years for which we have found prior auction records. (See www.sethkaller.net/about/values)

A Trusted Source Authenticity is guaranteed. We can often also provide definitive authentication and research notes.

Images and detailed descriptions are available upon request. All offers are subject to prior sale or price change without notice.

The Unique A braham Lincoln HIS TOR IC M A N USCR IP T S COLLEC T ION

Collecting Lincoln is, and always has been, about collecting the American dream.

Lincoln’s words defined the man, and he wielded those words as a powerful weapon.

We are pleased to announce The Unique Abraham Lincoln, an exceedingly important group of iconic Lincoln documents. The collection includes: • A rare leaf from Lincoln’s homemade Sum Book—the frontier boy’s earliest surviving manuscript. Here, Lincoln teaches himself the rules of compound interest.

• Two handwritten pages from Lincoln’s last State of the Union message, mourning the war’s terrible losses, but taking comfort in the growing strength of the Union.

• The Lincoln Family copy of his inaugural addresses, annual messages to Congress, the preliminary and final Emancipation Proclamations, and other key Lincoln documents.

These three iconic documents, along with several additional items, are priced at $1,650,000.

For more detailed descriptions, value notes, provenance, and information on related documents already in museum collections, call us at 914-289-1776 or email seth@ sethkaller.net

Seth K aller Inc. Historic Documents & Legacy Collections 235 Main Street, Suite 510, White Plains, New York 10601 Phone: 914-289-1776 Fax: 914-289-1789 www.sethkaller.net

Lincoln’s Earliest Surviving Manuscript THE FRONTIER BOY STUDIES COMPOUND INTEREST

Lincoln’s homemade Sum Book is a powerful testament to the roots of his greatness: tenacious drive, unremitting enterprise, and a limitless thirst for knowledge.

In the 1820s, when Lincoln created his homemade Sum Book, life on the Indiana frontier was still primitive. Public education was virtually nonexistent; with less than a full year of formal schooling, Lincoln largely taught himself. Books were scarce, and paper was expensive and hard to come by.

His Sum Book leaves, written when Lincoln was 15 or 16 years old, include exercises related to multiplication, division, discounts, and simple and compound interest (the topic of both sides of the leaf offered here), as well as tables of measurements.

Discovery of the Sum Book Lincoln biographer and former law partner William Herndon discovered the Sum Book during an interview with Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln. The late president’s stepmother recalled that when paper and slate were unavailable, Lincoln would write his calculations on a board. When the board became “too black he would shave it off with a drawing knife and go on again.” Lincoln eventually put together the book from paper obtained for him by cousin Dennis Hanks.

Herndon instantly recognized Lincoln’s Sum Book as an iconic and evocative relic. “It will always be a matter of wonder to the American people,” Herndon wrote, “that from such restricted and unpromising opportunities in early life, Mr. Lincoln grew into the great man he was.”

We don’t usually think about Lincoln’s financial side, but the compound interest exercises carefully written on this tattered page taught the future president a fundamental principle of investment. This would prove critical to Lincoln’s later success in confronting the economic complexities of the Civil War. In the wake of Lincoln’s assassination in April of 1865,

The image of Lincoln as a boy, reading by firelight, has become an enduring part of the Lincoln lore.

the public clamored for every recollection and artifact of their martyred leader. After his interview, Herndon persuaded Sarah to part with the surviving Sum Book leaves. Over the years, the few leaves, already in fragile condition, were distributed by Herndon to various acquaintances and officials. Since then, the pages have been sought after by private collectors and institutions.

The Library of Congress includes its Sum Book leaf among its “American Treasures,” defined as “the rarest, most interesting or significant items relating to America’s past.”

Of the eleven known Sum Book leaves, nine are owned by institutions. The only other one in private hands is not expected to return to the market.

Our leaf, which hasn’t been offered since 1953, likely represents the last opportunity to acquire any document from Lincoln’s youth.

Side one of the Lincoln Sum Book compound interest leaf.

With these compound interest exercises, the future president taught himself a fundamental principle of investment. This would prove critical to Lincoln’s later success in confronting the economic complexities of the Civil War.

These two pages comprise the largest known portion of Lincoln’s manuscript.

Here we see Lincoln in the act of creation, literally cutting and pasting an idea he had already put to paper and redeploying it for greater impact.

Lincoln’s Last State of the Union Address TWO COMPLETE PAGES IN HIS OWN HAND

The heart of Lincoln’s 1864 Annual Message— mourning the war’s terrible losses and taking comfort in the growing strength of the Union.

It had been a tumultuous year. Overwhelming casualties and an apparent stalemate with Confederate forces inflicted doubt and despair. Amid calls for a negotiated peace, Lincoln had reason to fear that he would lose his bid for a second term. Then a series of Union victories turned the tide. Lincoln was reelected on November 8, 1864. He began writing this Annual Message to Congress, now called the State of the Union address, just a week later.

Excerpt from Lincoln’s Manuscript “The election has exhibited . . . the fact that we do not approach exhaustion in the most important branch of national resources, that of living men. While it is melancholy to reflect that the war has filled so many graves, and carried mourning to so many hearts, it is some relief to know that, compared with the surviving, the fallen have been so few. . . .” “. . . thousands, white and black, join us, as the national arms press back the insurgent lines. So much is shown, affirmatively, and negatively, by the election. It is not material to enquire how the increase has been produced . . .

The important fact remains demonstrated, that we have more men now than we had when the war began . . . we are not exhausted, nor in process of exhaustion . . . we are gaining strength, and may, if need be, maintain the contest indefinitely. This as to men. Material resources are now more complete, and abundant than ever.”

Lincoln’s message captures the spirit of American resolve in the face of conflict. “This brilliantly crafted message helped relieve the hurt of war and bring new hope to millions of loyal but anxious Americans,” observes Dr. John R. Sellers, former Lincoln curator at the Library of Congress. “It demonstrates why no American president is better remembered for his speeches and official messages.”

Despite tremendous loss of life, the president finally had generals willing to fight, resources to carry the war through to victory, and the confidence of his troops. In the 1864 election, 70 percent of the Union soldiers’ vote went to Lincoln, a sound rejection of the defeatist message of his rival, General George McClellan.

That Lincoln could point to the army, “white and black,” was another triumph. Immediately after the Emancipation Proclamation, the Union army began accepting African-American recruits. By the end of the war, nearly 200,000 had served, providing crucial support for the Union cause.

For more than a century, the State of the Union Address was submitted to Congress on paper, rather than being delivered as a speech. Thus, Lincoln’s manuscript was sent to the superintendent of public printing. Under John Defrees’s direction, the pages were numbered in pencil and the missing figures (where Lincoln left blanks) filled in. After printing, Defrees saved only a portion of Lincoln’s manuscript.

Our two pages descended in the family of William Dole, Lincoln’s commissioner of Indian Affairs, until they were separated in the 1940s or 1950s. Reunited after more than half a century, these pages comprise the largest known portion of the manuscript. Only one other complete page (at Brown University) and five fragmented pages (most in institutions) are known to survive.

Lincoln’s Presidential Addresses and Proclamations THE LINCOLN FAMILY COPY

Signed by Robert Todd Lincoln and handed down through the Lincoln family to the last direct descendant.

This book contains the core official messages of Lincoln’s presidency—the first and second inaugurals, his four annual messages to Congress, the preliminary and final Emancipation Proclamations, his famous letter to Horace Greeley about preserving the Union, and more.

Many of the nine pamphlets bound into this volume are very rare. The first edition of Lincoln’s second inaugural address in particular is one of the rarest and most valuable Lincoln imprints. That speech, delivered in a driving rain on the steps of the Capitol, is one of the most powerful and eloquent in American history.

These messages were gathered together and specially bound after Lincoln’s second inauguration. Did the president give these printings directly to his son?

It’s certainly possible. As the firstborn, Robert Todd Lincoln would have been the natural recipient.

In addition to signing the book, Robert Todd has identified the contents: “All Messages & Inaug. Addresses ‘Letters & Proclamations.’ ” The volume was handed down through his family to the last direct descendant, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, who parted with it in the 1980s.

Robert Todd Lincoln (in uniform) was the only one of Lincoln’s four sons to live past his teenage years.

Highlights of the Lincoln Speeches and Proclamations in This Volume first inaugural address, march 4, 1861

“The mystic chords of memory ... will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” state of the union address, december 3, 1861

“Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” abraham lincoln letter to horace greeley, august 22, 1862

“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.” state of the union address, december 1, 1862

“Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history … We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of earth.” emancipation proclamation, january 1, 1863

“All persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free.” state of the union address, december 8, 1863

“I shall not attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation; nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation.” state of the union address, december 6, 1864

“We are not exhausted, nor in process of exhaustion … we are gaining strength . . .” second inaugural address, march 4, 1865

“With malice toward none; with charity for all . . .”

Additional Items in the Unique Abraham Lincoln Collection

We A re the Leading Builder of Historic Document Collections These are just two of the many important documents we have acquired for clients.

“Abraham Winning the Ball.” Currier & Ives Election of 1860 print, showing Lincoln holding a rail and a baseball, with candidates Bell, Douglas and Breckinridge leaning on baseball bats.

George Washington sending the Constitution to Thomas Jefferson.

Lincoln the Whig Politician. Printed letter signed

by Lincoln during his term in Congress, working to secure General Zachary Taylor’s 1848 presidential bid.

Lincoln the Lawyer. A fine example of Lincoln’s legal work in Illinois, written and signed in 1852.

Lincoln Portrait. Original engraving (circa 1869) of Lincoln by Henry Gugler, shown on front cover.

Lincoln in Print. A small group of contemporary newspapers and other imprints, including the Gettysburg Address, his 1864 reelection victory speech, and much more Lincoln-related content.

The Emancipation Proclamation We are happy to discuss our clients’ use of their collections to promote the study and love of history, and as a tool to improve the American educational system.

L e av e Your O w n L egac y. L et U s B uild a M ajor C ollection in Your N a me .

revolutionary war & founding

presidents & leaders

civil war & reconstruction

historic maps

african-american history

documents of freedom

Take the Next Step in Owning History Let Seth Kaller Inc. help you enjoy an inspirational connection to your favorite historic event, figure or idea.

Call us at 914-289-1776 or e-mail seth@sethkaller.net.

Seth K aller Inc. Historic Documents & Legacy Collections 235 Main Street, Suite 510, White Plains, NY 10601

Two unique pages from Lincoln’s 1864 State of the Union Address.

“[It] is melancholy to reflect that the war has filled so many graves, and carried mourning to so many hearts . . . thousands, white and black, join us, as the national arms press back the insurgent lines . . . The important fact remains demonstrated, that we have more men now than we had when the war began . . . we are gaining strength, and may, if need be, maintain the contest indefinitely.�