Heritage Auctions/Alexander Gardner Items

[L Verge]

Some of us remember the research of forum member John Elliott that led to an article several years ago in which it appears that Alexander Gardner, the photographer (and son) who were allowed on the Monitor during the post-mortem examination of JWB, was not allowed to photograph that examination. John's findings were pooh-poohed by some at the time.

During the month of August, Heritage Auctions will be offering a number of original items, each with handwritten explanations:

https://historical.ha.com/itm/political/...ion-071515


https://historical.ha.com/itm/political/...ail-071515

One is the original sketch of the post-mortem, which we all are familiar with, that appeared in Harpers Weekly. At the bottom of the sketch appears "my father" with an arrow identifying Gardner in that sketch. More importantly, an accompanying handwritten note on a separate sheet of paper reads, "This is a copy of a print and sketch made by my father Alexander Gardner and sent to Harpers Weekly. The gov't. would not allow a photograph of this to get out so this pen and ink sketch was made." You might remember that John Elliott's article quoted from an interview with Gardner's son Lawrence, who was with his father, in which the son said that no photos were taken.

Another auction offering is Gardner's pass to the conspiracy trial signed by Gen. Hartranft with an accompanying notation that "I went once and saw Mrs. Surratt and the other poor creatures. Later made a photograph of the execution."

Finally, the last offering is a tad spurious in my opinion. It is a coin-sized piece of wood, and the notation describes it as "A piece of the crutch made from a broom handle for J. Wilkes Booth sawed up and given to the persons who were present at the Post-mortem. My father Alexander Gardner and my brother Lawrence Gardner were both on board the Monitor and saw Booth's body taken away in small boat."

The opening bid is set at $2,500. If there is a sugar daddy out there waiting to help a small Lincoln assassination-related museum, please come to Surratt House...

[Gene C]

Dave Taylor has an excellent article on Boothie Barn about this, "A Piece of Crutch"

https://boothiebarn.com/2018/08/01/a-piece-of-crutch/

[L Verge]

I just posted this on Dave's site, and now I'm posting it here:

After first seeing the auction catalogue and the unusual "coin" of wood, I have a question about how they were cut in the days before handheld circular saws (invented in the 1920s to harvest sugar cane). Can anyone tell if the cut marks are consistent with an old handsaw? Sawmills had circular saws by the mid-19th century, but I can't imagine the crutch would have been cut that way -- unless the Navy Yard had something...?

Inquiring minds want to know!

[L Verge]

Another item up for sale are a few strands of Lincoln's hair. I understand that the bid on that one is up to $9000?

[Steve]

(08-02-2018 12:10 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Another item up for sale are a few strands of Lincoln's hair. I understand that the bid on that one is up to $9000?

To me, $9000 seems a little steep for a few strands of hair, even Lincoln's hair. But a couple of years ago a few strands of Washington's hair sold for just under $23,000:

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/entertainm...LvidmU3yJ/

So this auction could go much higher before the hair is sold.