Pieces of the Scaffold?

[BettyO]

Yes -- and my name is really Marilyn Monroe!

That photo and .10 cent wouldn't buy you a cup of coffee.... both of these men are dressed in Federal uniform.... never knew Ned Spangler was in ANY army!

[Gene C]

(06-24-2013 05:26 AM)BettyO Wrote:  Yes -- and my name is really Marilyn Monroe!

Thanks alot Marilyn, you were one of our best kept secrets in the witness protection program. (at least E@v#s is still safe)

[Jim Garrett]

I have a few splinters and a couple of snips of AL's hair. I got them about a year ago from Carey Delery of the HistorialShop. historicalshop.com. Included were photocopies of the provenance. You can absolutely take anything and claim a history to it. The splinters appear to be very simular to those from Carey, so that's a good thing. However, I've known Carey for many years. He has a good reputation. He has always been very easy to deal with and does a nice job with his presentations. I also know that without the provenance passing muster, he won't sell something. Last year he acquired a section of timber from Ford's Theatre. He has some documentation of it, however he has been trying to get better documentation. He talked extensively about from which restoration/re-build, etc. Carey places a high value on his reputation. More than a year later, he still hasn't listed it. I trust Carey and I trust his judgement.

[J. Beckert]

(06-22-2013 08:59 PM)Hess1865 Wrote:  I heard that when people would write Herndon if he had any Lincoln signatures lying around, Billy would grab a pair of scissors, cut Abe's autograph off a letter or document and send it out!
If this is true, I'd like to know what documents Herndon was using.
What a terrible historical loss it would be if he just tossed them after just cutting off Lincoln's signature.....

Robert Todd Lincoln did the same right up to the 1920's. He always cut the signature off a letter or check. One was auctioned a few years back with RTL's response letter to a young boy who had written asking for a signature. RTL said it was one of "the very few" he had left.

[Jim Garrett]

As far as the Napoleonic relic.........It was/is part of the Lattimer collection. The provenance on that item is rock solid. It was first brought to sale in 1969 by Norm Flayderman (just passed away last month or so. I believe he was 91). Norm was of the highest calibre. He was acknowledged as THE arms expert and was a consultant to museums all over the world including West Point and the Smithsonian. Norm acquired an estate collection including Napoleon's summer uniform, an original copy of his last will, his silverware, dining room linen service, death mask, his "member" and a ton of other stuff. My father was a friend of Norm's and we would stop by his home & business in New Milford Ct, when we would drive up to relatives every summer in Massachusetts. We went by to see him a month or so after he acquired the collection. He had it in his catalogue, but did not have it priced. He wanted to sell the collection intact. Unfortunately, when we got to Norm's, he had already sold it. The "member" then appeared in a Paris auction about 1975.

The Napoleon collection was gathered by the priest who served Napoleon on St. Helena and stayed in his family until 1927. It had only changed hands 2 times before Norm acquired it. To the best of my knowledge, it has never been photographed.