SIGNED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN: APPOINTMENT FOR COMMISSIONER OF POLICE FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 1862

LINCOLN, Abraham. Document signed. Washington, January 22, 1862. One leaf, 17 by 13 inches, printed on one side and finished by hand, with embossed seal. Matted and framed, entire piece measures 23 by 19 inches. $21,000.

Civil-War era document signed by President Lincoln and countersigned by Secretary of State William Henry Seward, appointing George S. Gideon to be the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police of the District of Columbia.

The document reads, in part: "The President of the United States of America, to all who shall see these presents greeting. Know ye, that, reposing special trust and confidence in the abilities & integrity of George S. Gideon, of Washington City, D.C., I have nominated and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint him to be a Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police of the District of Columbia; and do authorize and empower him to execute and fulfil the duties of that Office according to Law, and to have and to hold the said Office, with all the power, privileges and emoluments thereunto of right appertaining unto him the said George S. Gideon for the term of three years from the day of the date hereon, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States… Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the twenty-second day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the eighty-sixth. By the President: [signed] Abraham Lincoln. [signed] William H. Seward [printed] Secretary of State." There was a George S. Gideon who owned a printing and bookbinding firm that operated its business in DC, including printing the Official Registers of the United States from 1843 to 1851, and who corresponded with Lincoln. Gideon was also an avid sponsor of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad, and served as president of the railroad from 1862 to 1866, the time when presumably he would have been very busy serving out the present commission—unless he turned down the commission, or the position was more of a sinecure.

Faint fold lines, embossed seal intact. Lincoln's signature bold. A fine signed document.