Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States, guided his country through the most devastating experience in its national history - The Civil War. This note was written in the midst of this very strenuous period which naturally left the president under enormous pressure. On 16 February 1863, the day the note was written, the Senate passed the first formal draft system in the Civil War, the conscription act, which of course must have needed the presidents attention and signature. Lincoln writes “I have not time to add a line itelligibly, I am terribly pressed today. A. Lincoln. February 16, 1863”. Lincoln is considered by many historians to have been the greatest American president.

Autograph documents by Abraham Lincoln from the Civil War years are very rare on the market.