LS as the Republican presidential nominee, signed "A. Lincoln," one page, 7.25 x 3.5, August 1860. Addressed from Springfield, Illinois, a letter to a young autograph collector, “Master D. W. P. Corle,” which was likely penned by one of Lincoln's two assistants, John Nicolay or John Hay. It reads, in full: “As requested by your father, I send you my autograph.” A small oval has been neatly excised from the upper left corner to frame an affixed portrait of Lincoln. The letter is professionally inlaid into a slightly larger sheet. In fine condition, with some light creasing and soiling. Encapsulated and graded by PSA/DNA as "NM-MT 8."
This letter falls neatly between the date Lincoln received the Republican Party’s presidential nomination (May 16–18, 1860) and his historic presidential victory on November 6, 1860, thus installing him as the first Republican president. His election served as the main catalyst for Southern secession and Civil War, and on December 20, 1860, South Carolina formally seceded from the Union, with six other States following suit. By April 1861, the new Confederate States were openly at war with the United States, resulting in four years of unmitigated bloodshed.
