Beschreibung:

LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, President. Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln"), as President, to Miss Fanny McCullough of Bloomington, Illinois; Washington, D.C., 23 December 1862. 1 full page, 4to, 250 x 201 mm. 9 13/16 x 7 7/8 in.), on Executive Mansion stationery, very minor separations at two vertical folds, extremely faint traces of mat-burn from a previous frame , otherwise in good condition. Letter and envelope (see below) neatly matted and preserved under plexiglas protective panels in an elaborate dark blue morocco clamshell case, the compartments gilt-ruled, covers with double gilt-ruled borders, upper cover with gilt-lettered quotation "THE MEMORY OF YOUR DEAR FATHER", brass latch at fore-edge, by The Lakeside Press, Chicago. [ With :] LINCOLN. Autograph free frank signature ("A. Lincoln") as President, at top right-hand corner of the original envelope addressed in Lincoln's hand to "Miss Fanny McCullough Bloomington Illinois," an oblong, 87 x 157 mm. (2 3/8 x 6¼ in.) . LINCOLN'S FAMOUS CONDOLENCE LETTER TO FANNY MCCULLOUGH: "THE MEMORY OF YOUR DEAR FATHER, INSTEAD OF AN AGONY, WILL YET BE A SAD SWEET FEELING IN YOUR HEART, OF A PURER, AND HOLIER SORT THAN YOU HAVE KNOWN BEFORE" One of Lincoln's most famous letters, frequently anthologized and "acknowledged to be one of the greatest letters of condolence ever written" (Mark Neely). To the bereaved young woman whose father had been killed in battle, Lincoln writes: "Dear Fanny, It is with deep grief that I learn of the death of your kind and brave Father; and, especially, that it is affecting your young heart beyond what is common in such cases. In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and, to the young, it comes with bitterest agony, because it takes them unawares. The older have learned to ever expect it. I am anxious to afford some alleviation of your present distress. Perfect relief is not possible, except with time. You can not now realize that you will ever feel better. Is not this so? And yet it is a mistake. You are sure to be happy again. To know this, which is certainly true, will make you some less miserable now. I have had experience enough to know what I say; and you need only to believe it, to feel better at once. The memory of your dear Father, instead of an agony, will yet be a sad sweet feeling in your heart, of a purer, and holier sort than you have known before." In closing, Lincoln adds: "Please present my kind regards to your afflicted Mother. Your sincere friend. A. Lincoln." Published in Collected Works , ed. R.P. Basler, 6:17. The circumstances which prompted the writing of this exceptional letter are of considerable interest. Before the war William McCullough, Fanny's father, had been a clerk of the McLean County, Illinois, Circuit Court in Bloomington. He was well-known to Lincoln and to Lincoln's friend, later Supreme Court justice, David Davis (One of Fanny's sisters was married to William W. Orme, a partner of Lincoln's friend William Swett; Orme rose to the rank of Brigadier General of volunteers). At the outbreak of the War, McCullough -- although he had lost his right arm and sight in one eye -- sought to enlist in the Union army, but was rejected on medical grounds. President Lincoln intervened, apparently, to secure a commission for his friend in spite of his disabilities, and McCullough was mustered into the 4th Illinois Cavalry. A natural leader, he was elected Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment, which was soon caught up in the bloody fighting at Forts Henry and Donelson, at Corinth and at the near-defeat at Shiloh. McCullough and the 4th Illinois Cavalry served with such distinction that in December, preparing to launch his campaign against Vicksburg, General Grant selected them for an important reconnaisance behind Confederate lines. By December 5, McCullough's band, forty miles behind rebel lines, began to encounter stiff resistance from Confederate patrols. McCullough ordered a retreat back to Union lines, but that evening the