8pp., 8vo (178 x 114 mm), on black-bordered mourning stationery with personal monogram, accompanied by original black-bordered envelope with personal monogram and free frank, "Mary Lincoln," paperclip residue to four pages.

A GRIEVING MARY LINCOLN REQUESTS A FRIEND'S COMPANY FOR HER FIRST WINTER ALONE.

In part: "I have been thinking, dear friend, of going to Florida soon after the first of January - to remain south until the latter part of April. Can it be that you will accompany me... Of course, I cannot go alone and in my state of mind, a congenial, sympathizing companion is every thing to me. Now, for my plans. If you will go with me and pass the winter...I will so gladly pay the way for us both every where we go... If you please. I want so much to be with you, for I feel myself so utterly alone in all my wretchedness. Mine is the agony of a broken heart. Without my blessed, darling son, who was such a comfort to me, I can scarcely live..."

Mary Lincoln returned to the United States from Europe with her son, Tad, in May 1871, and two months later, Tad unexpectedly passed away at his brother Robert's home in Chicago. Having now suffered the loss of three sons and her husband, her mental health began to rapidly deteriorate. For the next four years, she traveled extensively through the United States and Canada in an effort to distract from her grief. During this time, she increasingly relied on her dwindling circle of old friends, among them Rhoda White, for emotional support. The present letter describes her poor health and her desperation to avoid the cold Chicago winter, inviting her old friend to join her and speaking of her grief following the death of her son, Tad.

REFERENCES:
Not in Turner