LINCOLN, Abraham (1809-1865). Partly-printed document signed ("Abraham Lincoln") as President, n.p., n.d.

One page, 420 x 545mm countersigned by William SEWARD (1801-1872) as Secretary of State (separated folds reinforced on verso, minor marginal wear).

A blank four-language ship's paper. An unusual survival: an unissued four-language ship's paper pre-signed by the president and secretary of state, illustrating the mechanics of production of these routine government documents that bore the signature of the nation's chief executive. Like their predecessors, Lincoln and Seward would sign these documents en masse before the government distributed them amongst the various ports of the United States to be issued to American ships sailing abroad as a form of identification on the high seas.