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ROBERT E. LEE, Signed Carte-de-Visite

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Autographs

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Robert E. Lee Signed Carte-de-Visite with Notation by a Previous Owner!

ROBERT E. LEE.
Carte-de-Visite Signed “R.E. Lee” in brown ink, Produced by M.B. Brady & Company, Washington, D.C., Very Fine. This 4” x 2.25” CDV has a sepia-toned photo vignette of Lee in bow tie, vest and jacket; his signature is at the lower right-hand corner, boldly done with a flourish (and over 1” high!) It has been placed within a hinged wooden case that opens to a full 6” x 8.25”; framed opposite the CDV is a 2” x 5” manuscript note: “Lee is fading out - You will do well to have him touched up by an artist. All [is] up but [I] have colds. So long. Fondly, ‘Granny’”. The CDV shows some browning, with a few small blemishes to the image which is a little light. This item obviously meant a great deal, as it was passed as an heirloom from one generation to the next.

Lee’s ascension to the highest ranks of the Confederate Army could have turned out very differently; as the Commandant of West Point up until the secession crisis, Abraham Lincoln offered Lee command of the United States Army. However, after much deliberation Lee decided that his first allegiance was to his home state of Virginia, and took up a command position in the Confederacy after its secession.

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