Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
The Collection of Victor Niederhoffer part II
Auction: September 19, 2019 11:00:00 AM EDT
[ Washington, D.C] Senate Chamber, December 13, no year given. 1p., 12mo; light horizontal center crease along old fold, scattered light spotting. To Miss E. Matterson, " Your very kind letter caused me by its request painfully to remember how powerless I am for those purposes for which power is properly desirable. When opportunities present themselves to do good or to serve my friends, then I wish to posses the capacity which your over kindness ascribes to me. The will is all I posses and my services are subject to your command and direction." Framed with the letter's postal address panel in Davis's hand & a 19th-century steel engraved portrait of Davis sitting at his desk. Contents & signature starting to brown but clear & generally strong - the signature untouched by creasing or other impediments.
Jefferson Davis, 1808-1889, served as the only President of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865, he had also served in the U.S. Senate from August 10, 1847 to September 23, 1851 and from March 4, 1857 to January 21, 1861. Davis's Senatorial letters are uncommon, as are letters revealing his capacity for the personal warmth evident in this letter, a warmth which is rarely apparent in his political communications.