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Alexander Stephens, as Confederate VP, pens a letter about Stonewall Jackson's
Alexander Stephens, as Confederate VP, pens a letter about Stonewall Jackson's
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Description:

Stephens Alexander 1812 - 1883 Alexander Stephens, as Confederate VP, pens a letter about Stonewall Jackson's Statue Fund just a week before his mission of peace with President Lincoln



Single page ALS on light blue paper, 4.75" x 7.5" inlaid to a larger sheet to a size of 10.25" x 14.75". Dated "28th June 1863" and signed by Alexander Stephen while Confederate VP as "Alexander Stephens". Faint staining/handling marks, else near fine. Accompanied by outstanding provenance as described below.


A letter written during a fascinating period of the Civil War. Stephens write only a week before leaving on a boat to Washington to meet with President Lincoln with an attempt to reach a Peace agreement and exchange prisoners, and only days before the Battle of Gettysburg . By this point in time, the Civil War has been raging for four years and the Union has been struggling to hold itself together. The letter was written in the middle of a series of climatic battles between the North and South, and specifically addressed the funding for a statue commemorating Andrew Stonewall Jackson, who had just died of wounds in battle. (Jackson died May 10th, when injured by his own men and ultimately succumbing to pneumonia... a blow to the Confederate Army). The Battle of Gettysburg was eminent, fought July 1-3, and President Davis was expecting a Confederate Victory at Gettysburg. His strategy was to have the Army of Northern Virginia approaching Washington from the North, while Vice President Stephens would be approaching from the South ... and with good timing ..., they might both arrive at the same time in one heralded moment of victory. President Lincoln with then have to make a choice, a lose-lose for the Union and discuss peace negotiations with Stephens.

As we all know this historical moment did not unfold as President Davis planned. Instead The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Major General George Mead's Army defeated attacks by Confederate General Robert E. Less's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's attempt to invade the North. Between 46,000 and 51,000 soldiers from both armies were casualties in the three-day battle, the most costly in US history. And for as far as the delegation to meet with Lincoln? VP Stephen's journey only took him as far as Newport News, Virginia, where_„îfollowing the crucial Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg he was informed that the U.S. government would not consider opening negotiations with him. This stalling measure was also in large part because Lincoln was attempting to bring the 13th amendment to a vote, and it was believed that it would be derailed by rumors of the South attempting to establish a peace agreement. In a strategic move Lincoln sent a telegram telling Grant to delay the delegation in Virginia to keep them from reaching Washington before the Amendment is passed. Lincoln desired to conceal knowledge of any pending negotiations and wrote a letter stating "as far as I am aware, there are no delegates from the Confederacy in the Capital to negotiate a peace." This gave Lincoln the advantage of the necessary few days/hours in this giant game of chess to allow for the voting of the 13th Amendment to pass before the delegates reached shore. With his intent accomplished, Lincoln then proceeded to meet with the delegation from the Confederacy. Vice-President Stephens asked if the South would be allowed to rejoin the Union in time to block the Amendment but Lincoln says that slavery in this nation is finished. Stephens retorted that Lincoln's Union is bound together by lies and that it wasn't democracy but trickery that passed the Amendment.

So although Alexander Stephen's letter addresses the death of Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson, which has been called 'the greatest personal loss suffered by the Confederacy', it was just a first step in the turning point of the war. Like a domino effect, the next 2 weeks saw the ensuing battle of Gettysburg, Stephen's ill fated and thwarted attempt to negotiate with Lincoln, and the ultimate passing of the 13th Amendment. Plans and conditions for the Souths surrender were underway.

A phenomenal period of history with more twists and turns in the ensuring two weeks than a formidable Hollywood movie plot. This letter was written with the innocent eyes of raising funds for Jackson's statue only to be shortly blind sided by battle and politics. Little would Stephens know what was about to ensue. A scarce ALS which reads in full as below:

"S.Batht Binch

Treasurer Jackson Statue Fund

Richmond Va

Dear Sir

Your letter of the 5th just inviting me to act as (illegible) the executive committee of the Jackson statue fund was received yesterday - allow me to say that my consent so to act is hereby granted- When the other members of the committee are selected you will please me kindly, you will furnish me the time and place of their meeting.

Yours truly,

Alexander Stephens"

From the library of John Augustin Daly (1838-1899). Daly, one of the most important figures in nineteenth-century American theater, worked as a critic, manager, playwright and stage director. At the time of his death, he owned two major theaters, one in New York and the other in London. Daly is considered personally responsible for the careers of such acting greats as John Drew Jr. Maurice Barrymore, Fanny Davenport, Maude Adams, Sara Jewett, Isadora Duncan, Tyrone Power, Sr. and many others.

Daly was also an avid book lover and collector, amassing an enormous library of books and original manuscripts. That collection was dispersed in an epic, two-week auction at the American Art Association in New York in March 1900. The present letter was part of an extra-illustrated volume, described in the catalog as a "Unique copy, with autograph letters of all the Presidents inserted..." Walter Benjamin, writing in The Collector, described the sale as a "blaze of glory, due to the total having reached nearly $200,000." Benjamin attributed the sale's incredible success to "a small bookseller on 42d street, who appeared at the sale with apparently unlimited cash, and was soon the master of the situation." That "small bookseller," was George D. Smith (d. 1920), who, up until that time, had been an obscure and unsuccessful book dealer who began his career in 1883 with Dodd & Mead. Smith would dominate the market for the next two decades, working as an agent for some of the wealthiest collectors in the country most notably Henry E. Huntington, for whom Smith purchased a portion of the Duke of Devonshire Library in 1914 for $1.5 million. (American Art Association, Catalogue of the Valuable Literary and Art Property Gathered by the Late Augustin Daly, New York, 1900; The Collector, New York, May 1900, 1-2; Publisher's Weekly, March 13, 1920, 801; Ibid, March 21, 1914, 1008; "Geo. D. Smith Dies in HIs Book Store, New York Times, March 5, 1928, 13)

The extra-illustrated volume of presidents from which this piece derives fetched $850, nearly four times above the going rate for presidential sets at the time. According to Walter Benjamin, Smith quickly resold the volume for $1,000. The collection did not surface again until it appeared in a minor auction in early 2016. (The Collector, New York, May 1900, 1-2)

Provenance: John Augustin Daly; American Art Association, New York, March 19, 1900, Lot 3122; George D. Smith, New York.

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