FH: Lincoln's Legacy Delivers

On May 21^st, Freeman | Hindman’s converted Lincoln aspirations into a memorable auction that will rank among the top ten in the collectible paper category worldwide by dollar value for 2025. The sale was prompted by the need to raise money to pay off acquisition debt. With this success, the Lincoln Presidential Foundation will end up keeping more than 1,400 items relating to America’s 16^th president.

The sale was handled by Freeman | Hindman Auctions and earned high marks and close to $8.0 million for its beneficiaries.

It was fun to watch. From the get-go there was a sense that significant players were in the mix.

Lot 2

Lincoln's Autograph Sum Book Leaf, signed twice, Pigeon Creek, Spencer County, Indiana, ca. 1824 sold for $521,200. It was estimated $300,000 - $400,000.

Lot 4

Autograph document by Lincoln, then Captain in the Illinois State Militia, April, 1832. Estimated $80,000 - $120,000. It went unsold.

Lot 8

Lincoln, Abraham. The Adams Handbill, the only known surviving copy of Lincoln’s First Printed work. It was estimated at $200,000 - $300,000 and brought $178,300.

You could tell the bidders had opinions and they were not going to be to guided by the estimates.

Lot 15

Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A Douglas, signed document, 17 August 1839. Estimated $150,000 - $250,000 failed to sell.

Lot 21

The “Bass-Ackwards” manuscript, Lincoln’s frontier ribaldry. Estimated at $200-000 - $300,000, sold for $178,300

At this point their auctioneers had the whip in their hand.

The lot flow slowed down, you could tell they believed they had the bids.

And it turned out they did.

All the way to the last lot, No. 147, when the gavel fell on the final one, raising close to $8.0 million dollars.

Among those many dollars, the honor to be the highest priced lot went to Lincoln’s bloody gloves, removed from the President’s stricken body. The winner paid $1.5 million. For the most valuable piece of paper, the prize went to Lot 122. It was a $100,000 Reward! The murderer of our beloved President, Abraham Lincoln, is still at large. It brought $762,500 and brings a lifetime of invitations to historical events as “the guy or gal that.”

The Museum did very well and Freemans | Hindman did too. Congratulations are in order.

Here is a link to both our version and FH’s. The difference is, ours covers books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera; theirs includes all of that and sundries.

RBH

Here is how FH described the upcoming sale

https://hindmanauctions.com/press/lincoln-s-legacy-may-21-auction-in-chicago-to-feature-over-140-items-from-the-extraordinary-life-of-america-s-16th-president

https://hindmanauctions.com/auctions/6441-lincolns-legacy-historic-americana-from-the-life-of-abraham-lincoln?tab=lots

Here’s a snip from WGN9, a Chicago TV station.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf0UI3O6QM8