Autograph endorsement as president, signed "A. Lincoln," on a 3 x 2.5 slip cut from a document, January 28, 1865. Lincoln writes, in full: "Let this man take the oath of Dec. 8 1863 & be discharged." Above, Kentucky Congressman Green Clay Smith endorses the statement: "I can fully endorse Mr. Calvert…of Boone County Ky—He can be relied upon, and is a truly loyal man." Handsomely archivally corner-mounted, matted, and framed with an etching of Lincoln by Thomas Johnson (signed in the lower border in pencil by Johnson) to an overall size of 19.25 x 26.5. In fine condition.
On December 8, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, by which he offered full pardons to any participant in the rebellion who laid down his arms and swore a loyalty oath, agreeing to 'faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the union of all the States there under.' By endorsing this directive, Lincoln authorized the release of a Confederate soldier held as a prisoner of war, at a time when peace negotiations to bring about the end of the war were beginning. A desirable and historically significant piece.
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