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Lot #256
David Rice Atchison

Scarce handwritten plea by the 'president for a day'

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Estimate: $600+
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Description

Scarce handwritten plea by the 'president for a day'

American politician (1807-1886) best remembered as the subject of a controversy over whether, as president pro tempore of the Senate, he technically served one day as US president in 1849 when Zachary Taylor declined to be inaugurated on the Sabbath. Though the unusual circumstances have since been widely analyzed and the notion of Atchison's presidency discounted, the legend of his 'tenure' has become an enduring fixture of American political folklore. Partial ADS, signed “Atchison Atto for Defe,” one page, 7 x 10.25, no date. Final page of a plea in a libel and slander suit written by Atchison on behalf of his client, in part: "The said Plaintiff charged with stealing were at the time and one will by nature, and of which and upon which the Plaintiff could not have committed and said Defendant that he did not intend to by the speaking and publishing the said words to impute the Plaintiff with the crime of larceny or any other crime only a little impropencity in the way of trespass and of this he the said Defendant puts himself upon." Matted and framed with a plaque and portrait to an overall size of 19 x 17. In very good to fine condition, with faint toning along three horizontal folds, and some scattered ink stains.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Fine Autographs and Artifacts
  • Dates: #525 - Ended April 11, 2018





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