Remarkable Lincoln reliquary spanning his life, from his early legal career to his assassination consisting of: an ink signature, as president, “A. Lincoln, Feb. 6, 1865,” on an off-white slip clipped from a larger document; a handwritten unsigned legal endorsement on a 7.5 x 4.5 legal brief, dated March 16, 1846, in another hand. Lincoln writes: “And now having fully answered, they pray to be hence discharged with their reasonable costs.” Also included is a vintage unsigned portrait of Lincoln, 6.25 x 8.5, as candidate for President, taken June 3, 1860, by Alexander Hesler in Springfield, Missouri. Printed by George B. Ayres from the original negative. Ayres purchased Hesler’s original plates just after the Civil War. In 1881, Hesler printed photographs from these plates in a number of different sizes. This is a fairly early print. In 1933 the plates were damaged beyond repair when sent through the mail to Washington. Other items included are: a small section of the blood-stained sheet upon which Lincoln lay in his final hours; a small portion of oak lathing, removed from the building in which the Lincoln and Herndon Law Offices were located; a small section of wood from the White House room where President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863; twelve strands of Lincoln’s hair removed to clear the wound the night of the assassination; a less than one inch square red piece of the flag that covered President Lincoln on the night of April 14, 1865, as he was carried across 10th Street from Ford’s Theatre to the Peterson House where he died the next morning; and a black mourning crepe, 1.5 x 1, worn by U. S. Navy Paymaster Charles H. Eldridge when Lincoln lay in state in City Hall, New York City, on April 25, 1865. Eldridge, later Rear Admiral, was on detail as Guard of Honor from 2 AM to 4 AM. All items are beautifully double matted and framed with engraved descriptive plaques, to an overall size of 30.75 x 28.5. Clipped corners to signature, folds to brief, and light silvering to image, otherwise fine condition. Oversized. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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