Lincoln: You can collect him but you can not own him

Those seeking a visual element for their Art and the Civil War collection will find lot 9152 of interest. It is a photograph of Leonard Volk. He was a sculptor who made life masks of Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln during the 1860 Presidential campaign. In the image he stands between sculptures of Douglas and Lincoln. This small piece of history is estimated $500 to $700.

In the event you would like to have a photograph of the star speaker at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg in 1863 it is estimated at $300 to $500, a tip-off that it isn't Abraham Lincoln. Abe wrote his 3 minute and 14 second speech on the train on the way to Gettysburg while the principal speaker, Edward Everett, delivered a two hour speech from memory that is now forgotten. This is lot 9141, a carte-de-visite of Mr. Everett. Those who would like to know more about Mr. Everett are directed to Gary Wills' excellent book, Lincoln at Gettysburg.

The spirit of Lincoln as expressed in the Second Inaugural Address is not present here although his images are. A remarkably important event in American history, four photographs of it are offered as lots 9117 to 9120. The lowest lot estimate is $500 and the highest $9,000. At that time he said,

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." March 4, 1865.

That Lincoln is not here. This is a sale of things and Lincoln was much larger than that.

The sale is deep in photographic ephemera of President Lincoln along with images of many of the characters who had large and small roles in Lincoln's life and death. There are important Lincoln items and they are priced accordingly but this sale is primarily for those looking to put mortar between the bricks.