Auction Name: 2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts & Texana Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 47146

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47146

Autograph Album Containing Signatures of Prominent 19th Century Figures. An autograph album containing more than one hundred signed pages, containing signatures beginning circa 1859. The album comes to us from the collection of Elizabeth Dole, wife of William Palmer Dole, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs under President Abraham Lincoln. 5 1/4 x 8 inches, bound in original red leather; upper cover stamped in blind and gilt, rear cover stamped in blind, all edges gilt.

Before his appointment to the Lincoln administration in 1861, Dole became active in the emerging Republican Party while living in Illinois and served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago in 1860. As William and Elizabeth did not marry until 1861, the autograph album may have been started by William or another family member as there are signatures that date from circa 1859.

Begun prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, the album gathers signatures from prominent Northerners and Southerners alike, including:

President Franklin Pierce, signed "Franklin Pierce," laid in on a piece of paper measuring 4 x 1 1/4 inches; President Andrew Johnson, "Andrew Johnson / Tenn"; Texan President Sam Houston, "Sam Houston / Texas"; Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, "H Hamlin / Maine"; Justice Andrew Wylie, "Andrew Wylie / Justice of Sup: Court of D. C. / February 1865"; Vice President Schuyler Colfax, "Schuyler Colfax / South Bend / Ind."; Illinois politician Stephen A. Douglas, "S. A. Douglas / Chicago / Ills"; Union General Winfield Scott Hancock, "Winfd S. Hancock / Major Genl U. S. Vols"; Senator Solomon Foot, "Solomon Foot / Vermont"; Secretary of War Simon Cameron, "Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania"; artist Albert Bierstadt, "Albert Bierstadt"; and Confederate General Reuben Davis, "Reuben Davis."

Condition: Moderate wear to covers. Spine defective with only remnants present. Endpapers lightly toned with minor loss, not affecting signatures; a few leaves and gatherings detached; some soiling to inner pages.

Provenance: Elizabeth Dole and by descent, to our consignor.

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