October Legends and Americana Ending November 14th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/15/2015
This is an exceedingly rare ninth plate (2" x 2 ½") tintype of Abraham Lincoln’s most notorious assassin, John Wilkes Booth ornately housed in a fine embossed leather case. Careful inspection of the verso of the image frame removed from the case reveals a revenue stamp dated January 20, 1863, just more than two years before his dramatic assassination of President Abraham Lincoln while attending a theatrical performance at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Booth himself was a member of one of the most distinguished acting families of the 19th Century and a vigorous supporter of the South and outspoken advocate of slavery. This is the first such image of John Wilkes Booth that we have seen as more surviving images picture his older brother Edwin who as an actor enjoyed greater commercial success and critical acclaim. Some historians cite this as a cause of John’s reported egocentricity and emotional instability leading up to his dire act. This is a historically significant artifact having survived the Civil War pertaining to the first assassination of an American President.