Lincoln, Abraham, Sixteenth President

Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln"), incorporating a draft legal document, 1 page (12 1/2 x 7 7/8 in.; 319 x 202 mm) on a leaf of blue wove paper, Springfield, 3 March 1846, to Samuel D. Marshall; some light staining, particularly at central fold, a few pinholes and short separations at folds.

Christie's, 21 April 1997, lot 89 (undesignated consignor)

Collected Works, ed. Basler, 1:370–71

Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln"), incorporating a draft legal document, 1 page (12 1/2 x 7 7/8 in.; 319 x 202 mm) on a leaf of blue wove paper, Springfield, 3 March 1846, to Samuel D. Marshall; some light staining, particularly at central fold, a few pinholes and short separations at folds.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Lincoln as lawyer: Lincoln advises a legal colleague on how to avoid Supreme Court fees. Lincoln was caught up on the periphery of the real estate case of Dorman v. Lane for more than a decade after he first agreed to review the case for Marshall in 1842. Four years into his involvement, Lincoln here directs Marshall to file a plea in bar, rather than a plea in statement, forcing the opposing side to bear the Supreme Court costs. 

"I herewith send you the draft of a plea for our case. By consultation with Judge Logan, I draw it in the form I do, to compel Lane, in order to get round it, to reply that the case has been brought to, and reversed & remanded by the Supreme Court, upon his doing which, you join issue with him; and that will compel him to pay the cost in the Supreme Court in order to get the Record to prove his replication with. If I were to set out the whole facts in a plea in abatement, we should have to pay the Supreme Court cost, in order to get the record to prove the plea with. This we wish to avoid. This, that I send, is a plea in bar. You will, of course, put in all and all manner, of other please in bar, particularly as to lapse of time."

Lincoln then sets out the full text of the proposed plea, omitting only dates, for Marshall to file under his own hand: "And the said defendants come and defend, when, where &c. and say, that the said Petitioner to have and maintain his petition, or to have the prayer thereof granted, by said court, ought not, because they say, that heretofore towit, on the _____ day of _____ AD the said petitioner filed his petition in this court, against these defendants, praying an order for the sale of the identical same land, for the purpose of paying the identical same debt, as in the petition herein. ..."

The case involved the attempt of Mr. and Mrs. William Dorman to recover property obtained during Mrs. Dorman's minority by her guardian, John Lane. With Lincoln's assistance, the Illinois State Supreme Court reversed the lower court's decision on the case. Lincoln finally settled his fee, first proffered as a portion of the land in question, for $100 in April 1853.