Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Lot #728
Lincoln Assassination: Ford's Theatre Broadside (Period Reproduction)

This lot has closed

Sold For $250

*Includes Buyers Premium

Estimate: $1000+
Sell a Similar Item?
Refer Collections and Get Paid
Share:  

Description

Period circa 1865 reprint of a playbill for the performance 'Our American Cousin' at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865, 5.75 x 17.5, reading, in part: "Ford's Theatre…Friday Evening, April 14th, 1865. This Evening The Performance will be honored by the presence of President Lincoln." It goes on to list the cast and bills it as the last night of Miss Laura Keene. Framed to a slightly larger size and in very good to fine condition, with some dampstaining to the bottom edge.

In the aftermath of Lincoln's assassination, mourners and collectors clamored for anything associated with that fateful day. Capitalizing on this newfound demand, several contemporary reprints of the Ford's Theatre playbill for Our American Cousin were created. In this case, a charlatan printer added a line not seen on the originals: "This Evening: The Performance will be honored by the presence of President Lincoln."