LINCOLN ENDORSEMENT: 'I AM ALWAYS FOR THE MAN WHO WISHES TO WORK.' LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. 1807-1865. ...

LINCOLN ENDORSEMENT: 'I AM ALWAYS FOR THE MAN WHO WISHES TO WORK.' LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. 1807-1865. Autograph Endorsement Signed ('A. Lincoln'), recommending the bearer for a place at the Calvary Depot, 1 p, 125 x 57 mm, n.p., August 15, 1864, on the same panel with an endorsement of W.H. Hay, CC, sheet clipped from a larger letter, professionally restored and encapsulated in mylar. Provenance: Sotheby's New York, October 17, 1988, lot 123. In this endorsement, an exceptional example of his unflagging support for the working man, Lincoln writes, 'I am always for the man who wishes to work; and I shall be glad for this man to get suitable employment at Calvary [sic] Depot, or elsewhere. / A. Lincoln.' The second endorsement on this document tells us that the petitioner in question is seeking work at the Cavalry Depot in Giesboro, MD, and should report to Capt. I.N. Moore, AQM. Lincoln spoke often about the importance and dignity of work and believed firmly in the American promise that through work, citizens can improve themselves and their situation. His support for those who wish to work was not merely political expediency. In a speech from February of 1961 given to the German community of Cincinnati, Lincoln said, 'working men are the basis of all governments. That remark is due to them more than to any other class, for the reason that there are more of them than of any other class. And as your address is presented to me not only on behalf of workingmen, but especially of Germans, I may say a word as to classes. I hold the value of life is to improve one's condition. Whatever is calculated to advance the condition of the honest, struggling laboring man, so far as my judgment will enable me to judge of a correct thing. I am for that thing. ' Though Lincoln spoke often about work and the dignity of labor, it is rare to find those sentiments expressed in an endorsement. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing