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U. S. Grant

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,000.00 USD
U. S. Grant

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Auction Date:2018 Dec 05 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
ALS, two pages on two adjoining sheets, 5.25 x 8.25, August 9, 1884. Letter to Robert Underwood Johnson, editor of The Century Magazine. In full: "Your letter of yesterday came to me last evening. As you request, I have written to General Sherman, expressing the wish that he should write the Article you ask from him. I do not think I care to write any more articles, for publication, than I have already agreed to write for the Century. These will form so much of the complete series—which I intend to write, whether published or not—as ought to go into print at this time. If however you would prefer my writing Chattanooga, instead of Lee's Surrender, I will have no objection to the change." Various pencil office notations are at the top, beginning: "Gen'l Lee's surrender of most importance to us?" In very good to fine condition, with scattered light creasing and edge wear.

In 1883, The Century Magazine began planning its comprehensive series of Civil War articles written by the conflict’s leading participants. General Grant initially declined an invitation to be a guest author, but reconsidered after his Wall Street firm failed later in the year. Grant agreed to write four articles—on Shiloh, Vicksburg, the Wilderness, and Appomattox—for $500 apiece. Later—to the chagrin of some at The Century—he decided that he would prefer to write on Chattanooga, rather than Robert E. Lee’s surrender. Under Robert Underwood Johnson’s tutelage, General Grant proved to be a capable narrator with a flair for the dramatic. Encouraged by his progress as a writer, Grant began to work on his famed personal memoirs, which were published after his death by Mark Twain.