Description:

Lincoln Abraham

Abraham Lincoln Collector Frederick H. Meserve TLS Re: Gates's Amberglow of Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed

1p TLS signed by notable Lincoln collector Frederick H. Meserve (1865-1962) as "F.H. Meserve" above his typed signature near bottom. Written in New York City on June 6, 1941. The watermarked cream stationery paper has "240 Church Street, New York" letterhead. In near fine condition, with expected light paper folds and isolated foxing near top, 8.5" x 11".

Frederick H. Meserve, a world-renown collector of Lincoln and Civil War-era photography, ephemera, maps, and books, wrote this thank you note to Arnold F. Gates (1914-1993), a fellow Civil War enthusiast. Gates had given Meserve a copy of the former's recently published booklet Amberglow of Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed (Griglak Printery, West Leisenring, PA, 1941). The kindness of this gesture made Meserve meditate about the people he had encountered during the last 40 years of study:

"It is true that I have made friends (and friends are better than rubies) perhaps because of, or at least in spite of, my study of Civil War history. You were good to write me, and to write your name in your little book which is a moving chapter in the life of Lincoln, and an essay on Friendship.

I have somewhere in my much too large collection of negatives and photographs, a small negative of Joshua Speed, and when I find it I will have a print made so that you may slip it in your own copy of Amberglow."

Gates's 14pp booklet Amberglow of Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed examined the two men's friendship from their first meeting in Springfield, Illinois in 1837. Joshua Speed (1814-1882) remained Lincoln's closest friend, even after Speed moved to Kentucky in 1841. Throughout Lincoln's political career, he counted on Speed for sound advice, and the two were confidantes up until the assassination.

An excerpt from Gates's booklet demonstrates its musing, literary tone:

"And out of that grew the first tangibles that were to shape a friendship between two men - two men who were so unlike and yet so understanding with each other. Out of this grew the companionship that was to know deepest sensing and intimate confidence. Out of this was to come finer lines of meaning" (Amberglow, 6).

Two years earlier, Arnold F. Gates had published the first book of this series, Amberglow of Abraham Lincoln and Ann Rutledge (Griglak Printery, West Leisenring, PA, 1939), that had explored Lincoln's first serious romance in the mid-1830s.

In the letter, Merserve criticizes his first class collection as "much too large." Meserve began collecting Lincolniana in 1897, with the intention of illustrating his father's Civil War diary. Meserve continued collecting over the next sixty years, eventually amassing 200,000 pieces including some previously "lost" or unknown images of Lincoln. Meserve's collection was so esteemed for its completeness that he essentially became the custodian of "Lincoln's image." For example, Meserve was approached by medal and currency engravers, as well as by the sculptors of Lincoln's Memorial Monument, for direct access to his presidential photographs. In 2015, the Meserve-Kunhardt Collection was acquired by the Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library  in New Haven, Connecticut.

Arnold F. Gates also had a lifelong interest in the Civil War. Gates edited and published works relating to the Civil War period, contributing to such works as the anthology Lincoln for the Ages. Besides the two Amberglow booklets, his independent monographs included The Rough Side of War: The Civil War Journal of Chesley A. Mosman, First Lieutenant, Company D, 59th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Meserve and Gates corresponded over the next ten years.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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