Abraham Lincoln handwritten manuscript sells for $2.2m

An Abraham Lincoln-handwritten manuscript copy of his 1865 second inaugural address has sold for $2.2m.

The rare piece led Heritage Auctions' November 4 manuscripts sale in New York.

Abraham Lincoln speech
The manuscript was discovered in an autograph book

It was discovered in an autograph book belonging to the son of Lincoln's secretary of the interior, John Palmer Usher.

Sandra Palomino, Heritage Auctions' director of manuscripts, comments: "This is just one of five manuscripts of that particular speech.

"So it's an understatement to call it rare. Lincoln was not one to just scribble a quote for someone. It's likely that this was written on request."

"What's amazing is how long this manuscript has been in this family.

"The Usher family has safeguarded this treasure since the Civil War. Today, it's found a new home and new steward for the future."

The text is from the final paragraph of the speech and reads: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan - to do all which may achieve, and cherish a just, and a lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations."

A handwritten copy of a speech Lincoln delivered after his 1864 election victory sold for a record $3.4m at Christie's in 2010.

We have these scraps of wallpaper from Lincoln's bedroom for sale.

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