Beschreibung:

LINCOLN, Abraham, President . Engraved document signed ("Abraham Lincoln") as President, Washington, D.C., 26 April 1861. 4to, accomplished in manuscript, endorsed on verso, paper slightly brittle, small fold separation, matted. A DIPLOMATIC POST FOR JUDD, WHO HAD MANAGED LINCOLN'S 1860 CAMPAIGN A document of considerable interest, as it relates to an individual closely connected with Lincoln's rise to the Presidency. Lincoln directs the Secretary of State to affix the Great seal of the United States to "a full Power authorizing Mr. Norman B. Judd, to negotiate a Convention, with the Govt. of Prussia, on the subject of the rights of neutrals & belligerents in time of war." Norman Buel Judd (1815-1878) a Chicago attorney, was closely involved in political issues. An Anti-Nebraska Democrat who refused to back Lincoln in the 1855 Congressonal contest, he later joined the Republican Party, becoming chairman of the state central committee and a member of the National Republican Committee (1856-1861). It was Judd who first proposed the celebrated debates between Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. He placed Lincoln's name in nomination at the 1860 Republican convention and worked behind the scenes to ensure Lincoln won the nomination. Following Lincoln's election, Judd accompanied the Lincolns to the inauguration, but was dissapointed not to receive a cabinet position. Instead he was appointed Minister to Prussia, a post he held until 1865.