02/01/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/01/2023 15:41
It certainly did in 1864 for Mary L. Westerman, an officer of the local Soldiers' Aid Society in Tazewell County, Illinois. She wrote a letter to President Abraham Lincoln, urging him to make a donation to support the cause with a donation to a Sanitary Fair that was held Oct. 18 of that year.
Her letter, sent a little over two weeks before the event and available for digital viewing through the Library of Congress, paid off. A letter from former Secretary of State John Hay to Westerman confirms that the 16th American President sent six signed cartes de visite - one of which (starting bid: $50,000) will find a new home when it is sold in Heritage Auctions' Feb. 25-26 Americana & Political Signature® Auction.
"This is an exceptionally rare item, a must-have for any serious collector of Abraham Lincoln memorabilia or presidential items," says Curtis Lindner, Americana & Political Director at Heritage Auctions. "Lincoln is the most aggressively collected of all U.S. presidents, and to find something like this that he signed represents an exceptionally rare opportunity."
This CDV is believed to be one of the six known that he signed for donation to the event, as evidenced not only by the text on its verso, but also by the display held by the Allen County Public Library in the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, framing Hay's original letter with two of the six photographs sent - both images match the offered example.
The auction includes two lots of silver from the Tumbaga wreck off of Grand Bahama Island in 1528. One of the lots, a Shipwreck Silver Round (starting bid: $10,000), is a significant piece of Aztec history with a diameter of 10 inches, is 2 inches thick at the center and weighs 517 ounces (more than 32.3 pounds). The round has Assayer marks, but they are difficult to read due to the casting of the silver.
A Letter from Captain Leonard B. Blinn Providing Eyewitness Account of the Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln (starting bid: $8,500) includes three pages of text written by Capt. Leonard B. Blinn, of the 100th Ohio Infantry. In this letter, Blinn wrote to his wife, telling her of the murder he witnessed and sharing the sorrowful effect the loss had on the city. The letter reads, in part, "Long before this reaches you. You will have heard of the Nations calamity in the assassination of that good man and the father of our country Abraham Lincoln. It has so happened that I was one of the spectators yesterday afternoon… I saw the President and his wife enter their private box… I heard the report of the pistol, the shrieks of Mrs. Lincoln, and saw the assassin jump on to the stage and disappear through the rear of the theatre… Such an excitement followed as I hope I may never witness again. It was found out instantly that the President was assassinated… I saw the President after he was shot also the pistol that he was shot with. Kiss little Carrie for me."
Other top lots in the auction include, but are not limited to:
· An [Abraham Lincoln Assassination] Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth: Display with Signatures and Slabbed Wallpaper from Ford's Theater (starting bid: $10,000)
· A Lincoln & Hamlin: Jugate Brady Ribbon (starting bid: $10,000)
· An Andrew Jackson, James Polk and Andrew Johnson: Full Standing Bronze Study (starting bid: $7,500)
· A George Washington: Oil on Canvas Portrait (starting bid: $7,500)
· An Abraham Lincoln: White House China Dinner Plate (starting bid: $7,500)
· A John Adams: Inaugural Powder Horn (starting bid: $5,000)
Images and information about all lots in the auction can be found at HA.com/6269.
Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world's largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.
Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet's most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 1,500,000 registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of five million past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit.
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Steve Lansdale, Public Relations Specialist
214-409-1699; [email protected]