1885 LIFE OF LINCOLN, PROFUSELY EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH OVER SIXTY DOCUMENTS AND AUTOGRAPHS, BEAUTIFULLY BOUND

(LINCOLN, Abraham) ARNOLD, Isaac N. The Life of Abraham Lincoln. Chicago: Jansen, McClurg, 1885. One volume bound in two. Octavo, contemporary full black morocco gilt boards sympatherically rebacked, raised bands, original dark blue endpapers retained. $13,500.

First edition of Arnold's biography of Lincoln focusing on his presidency, profusely extra-illustrated with over 60 autographs, letters, and documents, including the signatures of over 20 Union Generals and other Union soldiers, numerous original military telegraphs, a free franking signature from President Buchanan, the signatures of over a dozen Congressmen and politicians, and rare original Civil War documents, including one about a former slave listed as a deserter from the draft and another related to a court martial in South Carolina soon after the war. Beautifully bound.

Arnold's biography was written in part as a response to other works that Arnold considered to be unduly critical of Lincoln. The abundant tipped-in extra material in this copy—amounting to almost 70 items—includes a free franking signature from James Buchanan, letters and documents signed by Union Generals George Henry Thomas, Winfield Scott, John Dix, Winfield Scott Hancock, Daniel Butterfield, Daniel Sickles, Benjamin Butler, Franz Sigel, Patrick Henry Jones, William Tecumseh Sherman, A.E. Burnside, Alexander S. Webb, George Meade, John G. Parke, Clinton B. Fish, Rufus Ingalls, Wager Swayne and Francis J. Lippett; notable political figures, including Illinois Governor W.H. Bissell, pro-Union Virginia congressman John Minor Botts, Senator Ira Harris of New York, Ohio Congressman Carey Trimble, Illinois Congressman Lyman Trumbull, Illinois politician Ninian Edwards, Postmaster General John A. Cresswell, U.S. Treasurer Francis E. Spinner, Senator Jacob M. Howard of Michigan, British Ambassador Richard Lyons, New York Mayor Fernando Wood, Congressman Roscoe Conkling of New York, Congressman Samuel Sullivan "Sunset" Cox, Vice President Levi P. Morton and Governor and Senator William Pitt Kellog; and notable figures such a preacher Henry Ward Beecher, journalist Horace Greeley and businessman Cyrus W. Field. Additionally there are a number of military telegrams, a document relating to a court martial in South Carolina soon after the war, and a letter about the desertion of "Henry Hannon the slave of R.W. Ryan with a view to obtaining the compensation provided in such cases," with the author noting that while "the name of Henry Hannon is not borne on the rolls of said district… the name of Henry Hamilton, slave of Richard W. Ryan," is noted as having been drafted in 1864, but, never having reported for duty, is listed as a deserter. Monahan 1010.

Interior fine, contemporary boards expertly restored.