Stereographic glass negative from Abraham Lincoln’s last sitting. Estimate: $40,000-$60,000. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. image.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
“This sale is rich in diversity,” said Katie Horstman, director, American history department. “From the stereoscopic colloidon negative produced during Abraham Lincoln’s last sitting, to the rare CDV of famed gunfighter and scout Wild Bill Hickok, the almost 400 lots featured in the auction represent the people, places and events that made our great country what it is today.”
Highlighted in the sale will be an Alexander Gardner colloidon glass negative from Abraham Lincoln’s last sitting, estimated at $40,000-$60,000. Descended in the family of photographer M.P. Rice, this seated portrait of the president was taken on Feb. 5, 1865, in what was generally acknowledged as Lincoln’s last sitting made in Gardner’s studio.
A rare menu from the Aug. 9, 1941, Atlantic Conference, signed by all guests, including Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, is estimated to sell for $20,000-$25,000. The dinner took place at Ship Harbor, Newfoundland, in Churchill’s honor aboard the USS Flagship Augusta.
A Vietnam War-era Zippo lighter collection is expected to bring $30,000-$50,000. This lot of 282 Zippo lighters features personalized and anonymous engravings written by U.S. soldiers, sailors and airmen during deployment. American artist Bradford Edwards compiled the collection individually over several years on-site in Vietnam in the 1990s.
Numerous photographs are also expected to perform well in the auction. A photographic archive of Miles City, Mont., by Montana photographer Robert C. Morrison is estimated at $30,000-$50,000. One of the earliest known photographs of New Orleans, by Jay Dearborn Edwards, is expected to bring $10,000-$20,000. A rare panoramic photograph of the opening game at Cincinnati National League Park, Chicago vs. Cincinnati, 1912, is estimated to bring $10,000-$15,000.
Also offered in the sale will be a selection of miniature portraiture and cartes-de-visite. A rare Wild Bill Hickok CDV by A.P. Trott, Junction City, Kan., is estimated to sell for $8,000-$10,000. A Thomas Jefferson miniature portrait by William Russell Birch is estimated at $10,000-$15,000, and a George Washington miniature portrait after Edward Savage is expected to fetch $5,000-$7,000.
Cowan’s will also offer historical flags in the sale. A scarce William Henry Harrison campaign flag banner is expected to bring $10,000-$15,000. A fine Civil War-era 34-star flag, featuring an American eagle and an additional red stripe known as a “blood stripe” is estimated at $7,000-$9,000.
For more information about the auction or to view the catalog, please visit cowans.com or call Katie Horstman at 513-871-1670 ext. 46.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Stereographic glass negative from Abraham Lincoln’s last sitting. Estimate: $40,000-$60,000. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. image. Photographic archive of photographer R.C. Morrison of Miles City, Mont., 1880s-1890s. Estimate: $30,000-$50,000. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. image. Vietnam War Zippo lighter collection. Estimate $30,000-$50,000. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. image. Rare menu from the 1941 Atlantic Conference signed by all guests including Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $20,000-$25,000. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. image. One of the earliest known photographs of New Orleans by Jay Dearborn Edwards. Estimate $10,000-$20,000. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. image.
