1858 AUTOGRAPH ALBUM PRESIDENTS / CONGRESS / SAM HOUSTON / CONFEDERATE CIVIL WAR

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

1858 AUTOGRAPH ALBUM PRESIDENTS / CONGRESS / SAM HOUSTON / CONFEDERATE CIVIL WAR:
$5238.59

Exceptionally rare and historically important, 1858 Autograph Album containing the Autographs of President James Buchanan, his Cabinet, and many members of the 35th Congress including Senators Sam Houston, future President Andrew Johnson, Vice President John C. Breckenridge, Simon Cameron, William Seward, Hannibal Hamlin, Henry Wilson, Stephen A. Douglas, MANY Confederate States of America Political and Military figures. This is a simply amazing collection of autographs which collected in 1858 just three years before the beginning of the Civil War and includes the signature of some of the most important political figures of the Civil War period.

The Album itself measures approx. 5 1/2” by 8” and is bound in a very attractive, brown leather with gold gilt decoration and text on the front cover. The name of the original owner and likely the person who obtained these autographs is stamped in gold gilt text on the cover that reads \"J.H. Meredith / Baltimore\". It contains 50 leaves with the autographs arranged as follows. President James Buchanan and Vice President John C. Breckinridge (later a brigadier General in the Confederate Army) have signed the front of the first leaf and each has dated his signature - April 26, 1858 for the President and May 12th 1858 for Breckinridge. It is safe to assume that all of the autographs in the Album were collected around this time.

Members of President Buchanan\'s cabinet follow on the front of the next two leaves and these signatures include Secretary of the Treasury Howell Cobb (a founder of the Confederate States of America and the first de facto President of the CSA before the election and inauguration of Jefferson Davis); Secretary of War John B. Floyd (Confederate General during the Civil War); Secretary of the Interior Jacob Thompson (Inspector General of the Confederate Army during the Civil War); Postmaster General Aaron V. Brown (former Governor of Tennessee); and Secretary of State Jeremiah S. Black.

These signatures are followed by two blank leaves and then begins the Autographs of the Senators of the 35th Congress. Like the Cabinet members, each Senator signs his name and the state that he represents. These include James Dixon; James Alfred Pearce; Henry Wilson (16th Vice president of the United States under Ulysses S. Grant); William Bigler (former Governor of Pennsylvania); Asa Biggs (member of the secession convention of North Carolina in 1861 and a Confederate judge 1861-1865); George Ellis Pugh; James Henry Hammond (one of the major spokesmen in favor of slavery in the years before the American Civil War); James Murray Mason (represented the Confederate States of America as appointed commissioner of the Confederacy to the United Kingdom and France between 1861 and 1865); William M. Gwin of California (before, during, and after the Civil War, Gwin was well known in California, Washington, DC, and in the south as a determined southern sympathizer); Robert M. T. Hunter (Confederate States Secretary of State (1861-1862) and then a Confederate Senator (1862-1865)); Daniel Clark; David C. Broderick of California; Hannibal Hamlin (15th Vice President of the United States serving under President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War); La Fayette S. Foster; James R. Doolittle of Wisconsin; William P. Fessenden (Secretary of the Treasury under President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War); William H Seward (United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War); Andrew Johnson (17th President of the United States who became president as he was vice president at the time of President Abraham Lincoln\'s assassination); Sam Houston (the larger than life Texas Hero, Statesman and Military Leader - the first and third President of the Republic of Texas and the Governor of both Tennessee and Texas); Solomon Foot; James Harlan (Secretary of the Interior under Andrew Johnson); Benjamin Wade (Radical Republican); Jacob Collamer (Postmaster General under President Zachary Taylor); John P. Hale (one of the first senators to make a stand against slavery and a leading member of the Free Soil Party and was its presidential nominee in 1852); Simon Cameron (United States Secretary of War under Abraham Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War and Minister to Russia); James F. Simmons; John Slidell (Confederate States of America\'s commissioner to France involved in the Trent Affair); David L. Yulee (Member of the Confederate Congress and imprisoned in Fort Pulaski for nine months due to his participation in the Confederate government); Stephen A. Douglass (Democratic Party nominee for president in the 1860 election, losing to Republican Abraham Lincoln. Douglas had previously defeated Lincoln in a Senate contest, noted for the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858); Charles Durkee of Wisconsin; Preston King; John J. Crittenden (twice served as United States Attorney General in the administrations of William Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Millard Fillmore and was also the 17th governor of Kentucky); Judah P. Benjamin (a Cabinet officer of the Confederate States of America); Lymann Trumbull (co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution); Tristen Polk (12th Governor of Missouri and colonel in the Confederate States Army); John R. Thompson; Benjamin Fitzpatrick (11th Governor of Alabama); James A Bayard; Charles E Stuart (Union Army Colonel commanding the 13th Michigan Infantry); Alfred Iverson of Georgia; Jessie D. Bright (the only senator from a Northern state to be expelled for being a Confederate sympathizer); Anthony Kennedy of Maryland; Philip Allen; George W. Jones of Iowa; Graham N. Fitch (brigade commander in the Union Army during the American Civil War); Albert G. Brown of Mississippi (a strong advocate of the expansion of slavery); William Wright; Clement C. Clay (a Confederate States Senator from Alabama from 1861 to 1863 who had his portrait appears on the Confederate one-dollar bill and was imprisoned for a time on suspicion of having been involved in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln); and William K. Sebastian of Arkansas (expelled from the Senate for his suspected support of the Confederacy).

Next comes the Autographs of the Speaker of the House of Representative James L. Orr and the Clerk of the House of Representative James C. Allen on the front of one leaf followed by the Signatures of 239 (of the 244 total) Members of the House of Representatives of the 35th Congress. We will add those names to this listing on Saturday. Suffice it to say that these are another collection of influential Civil War era Politicians and sildiers.　

While we have owned a few Autograph Albums of this type that were collections of the Signatures of Cabinet Members, Senators and Members of the House of Representatives, we have never come across an example that contained SO many important figures in the History of The United States. The Buchanan Administration and the 35th Congress did much to set the stage for the American Civil War. It was a time of great debate and a time of great division and this Autograph captures a true \"moment in time\" that was instrumental to the future of the United States of America.

All of the Autographs contained here are unconditionally guaranteed authentic and original. Each and Every one of the Signatures and the Album itself are backed by our “no questions asked” return policy and lifetime guarantee of authenticity. The Signatures are unconditionally guaranteed to be deemed authentic by any third party authentication service and the Album will be accompanied by our own Letter of Authenticity with a statement of our unconditional return policy and guarantee of authenticity.

This Historically Important Autograph Album is in very good to excellent condition. It is bound in its original blind stamped and gilt decorated leather covers which are tight, sound and intact. There is some fading at the spine and a bit of wear at the edges but the covers are very attractive and with a minor refurbishing the leather will regain its full lustre. The interior pages are complete, intact and very well preserved throughout. No leaves have been removed or lost and the vast majority of the pages are clean and crisp with just a few exhibiting some very light and minor soiling. All of the signatures are executed in brown, iron gall ink and all are dark and bold and very attractive - the elaborate flourish signature of Senator Sam Houston is particularly so. There are some scattered, minor ink smudges that most certainly occurred when the Album was being signed but overall this is in exceptional collection of beautiful Autographs.

An exceptionally rare and historically important, 1858 Autograph Album containing the Autographs of President James Buchanan, his Cabinet, and many members of the 35th Congress including Senators Sam Houston, future President Andrew Johnson, and Vice President John C. Breckenridge to name only a few and worthy of a place at the center of even the most advanced, museum quality Presidential Autograph Collection!!

We are proud to offer this important Autograph Album here, as always, without reserve and with the confidence that it will attract the serious attention that it justly deserves!!!

Overseasshippping is extra and cost will be quoted at buyers request. Massachusetts residents must add 6.25% sales tax.

Please check out other early and interesting items offered by this seller on . Click Here to See Our Items We Have for Sale in the Gallery and Click Here to Add Us To Your Favorite Sellers List.

Here to Discover More About this Item and Many Others on Our New Informational / Non-Commercial / Reference Blog - Walnutts.com.

Important Notes about Shipping Charges:

The amount quoted for Shipping & Handling is calculated by and is equal to the EXACT amount charged by the Post Office plus a $1.00 \"packing fee\" - the $1.00 fee is our only compensation for the virgin packing materials we use on all of our professionally packaged boxes as well as our cost for the salaried help that does most of our packing - as I am sure you can see, we make NO profit on the Shipping charges and, in fact, our costs are usually greater than the $1.00 fee. Please contact us if there are any issues regarding the cost of shipping.