"The mail from America...leaves no doubt about the imminence of a civil war.”
 
Flaviac and Lyon, 1861-1862
 
Correspondence between Durant, Frères, and Dumas of Flaviac and the Maison Repelin, de Micheaux & Cie of Lyon - fabric merchants who bought raw materials in the United States. 
 
Fourteen handwritten letters from February 1861 to November 1862 with various references to the Civil War and its effect on their business.  A dozen measure 265 x 215 mm. and two are 215 x 135 mm. General light wear, a few slight tears here and there, but overall in excellent shape. Near Fine.
 
An important letter from Lyon dated March 20, 1861 references Lincoln’s famed first inaugural speech in which he denounced the secessionist ambitions as anarchical, but concluded with a heartfelt appeal for unity(his legendary “bonds of affection…mystic chords of memory,” and so forth):
 
“… calm is now reappearing in our place, but the news in America isn’t good, our manufacturers have returned to their previous reluctance; we will not be able to obtain today the prices of which we spoke to you…The speech of President Lincoln does not change the opinion that we had…the question remains as undecided as in the past, and American correspondence expresses the opinion that the Southern States will maintain their separation; It is therefore an armed conflict that is inevitably preparing…"
 
An intriguing collection of historical documents from a cataclysmically transformative time.