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Freeman's | Hindman: Lincoln’s Legacy: Historic Americana from the Life of Abraham Lincoln

Auction Reports

Auction Name Lincoln’s Legacy: Historic Americana from the Life of Abraham Lincoln Total Sales (USD) 7,967,194.00
Auction Date May 21, 2025 - May 21, 2025 Low Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 3,661,600.00
Sale Number #6441 High Estimate of Lots Sold (USD) 5,553,100.00
Total Lots 144
Sold Lots 138.0 Low Estimate of All Lots (USD) 4,001,600.00
% of Lots Sold 95.83% High Estimate of All Lots (USD) 6,083,100.00
Unsold Lots 6 Total Sales as a % of High Est. 130.97%

Top twenty-five by sale price

Top Sale Price Lots
Lot Number Author Name Book Title Year Published Estimate Actual Price
114

[LINCOLN ASSASSINATION]. A pair of stained leather gloves carried by President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre on the night of his assassination, 14 April 1865.

N/A USD 800,000.00 - 1,200,000.00 USD 1,512,500.00
113

[LINCOLN ASSASSINATION]. A handkerchief carried by President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre on the night of his assassination, 14 April 1865.

N/A USD 100,000.00 - 200,000.00 USD 826,000.00
122

$100,000 Reward! The murderer of our late beloved President, Abraham Lincoln, is still at large. 20 April 1865.

1865 USD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 USD 762,500.00
2 LINCOLN, Abraham

Lincoln's Autograph Sum Book Leaf, signed twice, Pigeon Creek, Spencer County, Indiana, ca. 1824

ca. 1824 USD 300,000.00 - 400,000.00 USD 521,200.00
111

[LINCOLN ASSASSINATION]. A cuff button worn by President Abraham Lincoln on the night of his assassination at Ford's Theatre, 14 April 1865.

N/A USD 200,000.00 - 300,000.00 USD 445,000.00
108

Orchestra ticket stub for Our American Cousin, 14 April 1865.

1865 USD 50,000.00 - 70,000.00 USD 381,500.00
55 HESLER, Alexander

Oval Bust Portrait by Alexander Hesler, signed ("A. Lincoln"), ca. 3 June 1860.

1860 USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 USD 254,500.00
33 LINCOLN, Abraham

Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") to Jesse O. Norton, 16 February 1855.

1855 USD 120,000.00 - 180,000.00 USD 229,100.00
8 LINCOLN, Abraham

The Adams Handbill, The Only Known Surviving Copy Of Lincoln's First Printed Work, 5 August 1837.

1837 USD 200,000.00 - 300,000.00 USD 178,300.00
21 LINCOLN, Abraham

The "Bass-Ackwards" Manuscript, Lincoln's Frontier Ribaldry

N/A USD 200,000.00 - 300,000.00 USD 178,300.00
105 LINCOLN, Abraham

First Printing of Lincoln's Celebrated Second Inaugural Address, 1865.

1865 USD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 USD 165,600.00
139

Lincoln Family Locks of Hair

N/A USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD 127,500.00
56 LINCOLN, Abraham

Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") to Joshua Reed Giddings, 26 June 1860.

1860 USD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 USD 114,800.00
107

Advance ticket for the April 14, 1865 Performance of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre.

1865 USD 50,000.00 - 70,000.00 USD 108,450.00
110

[LINCOLN ASSASSINATION]. A piece of President Abraham Lincoln's coat worn on the night of his assassination at Ford's Theatre, 14 April 1865.

N/A USD 100,000.00 - 150,000.00 USD 102,100.00
7 LINCOLN, Abraham

Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") as Postmaster, to Blair and Rives, 3 November 1835.

1835 USD 80,000.00 - 120,000.00 USD 95,750.00
74

First Official Broadside Printing of The Emancipation Proclamation

N/A USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD 95,750.00
112

Mose Sandford Autograph Letter signed on the transportation of Lincoln's body to the White House, 17 April 1865.

1865 USD 100,000.00 - 200,000.00 USD 89,400.00
121

$30,000 Reward. Description of John Wilkes Booth! ca. 16 April 1865.

1865 USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD 60,800.00
32 LINCOLN, Abraham

Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") to Richard Yates, 14 January 1855.

1855 USD 60,000.00 - 80,000.00 USD 57,600.00
44 LINCOLN, Abraham

The Doheny Copy of the Lincoln and Douglas Debates, Inscribed by Lincoln.

N/A USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD 57,600.00
65

Lincoln White House drinking glasses, ca. 23 July 1861.

1861 USD 20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD 57,600.00
123 TOWNSEND, Edward Davis

Autograph letter signed ("E.D. Townsend"), and signed invitation for Embalmer Charles D. Brown, 20 April 1865.

1865 USD 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD 57,600.00
6 LINCOLN, Abraham

Lincoln's "National Debt", One of his Earliest Extant Documents, 19 October 1833.

1833 USD 50,000.00 - 80,000.00 USD 51,200.00
81 LINCOLN, Abraham

Carte-de-visite photograph signed ("A. Lincoln") by Alexander Gardner, 9 August 1863.

1863 USD 40,000.00 - 60,000.00 USD 51,200.00
  • Sotheby’s
    Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone
    25 June – July 7
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
    Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
    Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
    Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
  • Forum Auctions
    The 10th Anniversary Sale
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    July 16, 2026
    Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
    Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
    Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
    Forum Auctions
    The 10th Anniversary Sale
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    July 16, 2026
    Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
    Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
    Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
    Forum Auctions
    The 10th Anniversary Sale
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    July 16, 2026
    Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
    Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
    Forum Auctions
    The 10th Anniversary Sale
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    July 16, 2026
    Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
    Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
    Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000