Autograph Document Signed

Secretary of the navy under Lincoln and Johnson. ADS, 1p, 8" X 9½", n.p., 1848 August. Very good. Attractive pale blue lined sheet. Welles, at this time chief of the bureau of provisions and clothing for the U.S. Navy, requests a $150 advance for costs incurred in traveling from Washington to Auburn, New York, to attend the case of United States vs. L. Caldwell, as well as reimbursement for two past trips. Signed with his usual cramped "GWelles." This item is accompanied by an exceptional and scarce 8" X 10" glossy photograph, a full-length portrait (possibly from a Mathew Brady negative?) made circa 1950 by pioneering photography historian FREDERICK HILL MESERVE (1865-1962), "America's first great photograph collector" who assigned numbers to Lincoln photographs ("Meserve numbers") that are still used today. This striking image was quite likely made from the original glass plate negative, as was Meserve's habit. It is identified on the verso in pencil in Meserve's distinctive hand: "Gideon Welles / The Meserve Collection." A handsome document and a highly desireable accompanying image.