Sale 2486, Part I - The Harold Holzer Collection of Lincolniana, September 27, 2018

10 c   (AUTOGRAPHS.) Group of 9 items relating to William O. Stoddard and Lincoln’s other staff secretaries. Various sizes and conditions. Vp, 1863-1923 [500/750] William O. Stoddard. Autograph Letter Signed to J.E. Boos, recalling the 1861 Lincoln inauguration: “I stood and looked in his face while I listened to every word of his first inaugural address, and saw Chief Justice Taney administer the all-important oath of office.” With envelope. Madison, NJ, 17 May 1915 * 2 letters from Stoddard to his grandson Gordon, including one regarding Lincoln: “Very few men ever actually knew him or understood him. That I did so was by a process that began in Illinois, with a study of him that led to the working of his first nomination for president. After that, during three consecutive years, seeing him every day and taking reading, deciding the fate of every letter or other matter that came to him by mail. It was needful that I should know his answer to each of the numberless letters, without any possibility of referring them to him. He did not see two percent of them. I think he is better understood now than when he was on earth.” Madison, NJ, 2 April 1923 * Large card signed by Stoddard, 27 November 1912, worn * Presidential land patent to John A. Peck, signed “Abraham Lincoln by William O. Stoddard, Sec’y,” as part of Stoddard’s duties as a White House clerk. Washington, 20 March 1863 * Presidential land patent to Michael Umbarger, signed “Abraham Lincoln by Edward D. Neill, Sec’y.” Washington, 10 February 1865 * Later photograph of John Hay’s undersecretary Gustave Matile * Carte-de-visite photograph of John Nicolay. Washington: Brady’s National Photographic Galleries, circa late 1860s? * Envelope printed “From the President of the United States” and franked by John Nicolay, 30 March 1863?