ANS (probably originally an endorsement), signed as president, “A. Lincoln,” one page, 2.75 x 4, July 2, 1862. Lincoln authorizes the issuance of a railroad pass. In full: “I suppose this man has been doing something for our sick soldiers, and I should think it would be no more than fair that he should have a Railroad pass to his home at Albany, New York.” On the eventful day he signed this note, Lincoln also signed the “Act to Prohibit Polygamy in Utah,” as well as the act that enabled the establishment of land grant agricultural schools in every state, decided in conference with Secretary of War Stanton that fugitive Negroes could not, by law, be returned to their owners, and derided the soon-to-be dismissed McClellan’s request for fifty thousand additional troops as “simply absurd.” Matted and framed together with a nineteenth-century portrait engraving in a period gilt and walnut frame to an overall size of 13 x 25. In very good condition, with several horizontal ink lines (one through upper portion of signature), light folds, and mild soiling with faint scattered spots. Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
