Books & Manuscripts (1697) February 18, 2021 EDT, ONLINE ONLY Lot 143

Estimate: $800 - $1200 (plus Buyer's Premium) [Presidential] Jackson, Andrew Autograph Letter, annotated Walnut Grove, (), Jun 1, 1830. 1 pp., on one sheet folded to make four pages; 9 7/8 x 8 in. (250 x 203 mm). Autograph letter, docketed by President , to American diplomat, (nephew of Jackson), by Judge Lewis Summers, concerning a trip in 1827, when Summers visited Donelson and his aunt, Rachel Jackson (née Donelson). At the end of the letter Summers writes of, "...additional evidence of the estimation in which she (Rachel Jackson) was held at a very gloomy period of her life."; annotated below address by Andrew Jackson, "to be carefully preserved." Creasing from original folds; numerous sello tape repairs; small separations along center fold; scattered soiling; top corner of final page singed. The presidential campaign of 1828 was an especially bitter affair between Jackson and incumbent , with a volley of personal attacks and slander slung from each camp. Particularly stinging attacks were leveled at Jackson's marriage to Rachel, after it was discovered that her former husband, Lewis Robards who, unbeknownst to Rachel, never filed for divorce after they separated in 1790. The Jacksons' were subsequently labeled adulterers in the press. The campaign had a significant effect on Rachel's mental health, with some speculating that the stress contributed to her sudden death from a heart attack on December 22, 1828, only days before Jackson was to leave for Washington. It is speculated that Jackson annotated the letter as such for the warm words written about his late wife. He would never remarry.