Unique photo of the first soldier to die in the Civil War offered at Swann, Sept. 28

Unique ambrotype of Luther C. Ladd, a Union soldier from Lowell, Mass. who became the first fatality of the Civil War, estimated at $8,000-$12,000 at Swann Auction Galleries.

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NEW YORK – In any war, there is always someone who becomes the first to die. In the case of the Civil War, we know who that person was: Luther C. Ladd, a 17-year-old Union soldier from Lowell, Massachusetts, a member of Company D in the 6th Massachusetts Volunteers.

But he didn’t perish on a grassy field in the rural South. Ladd and four others lost their lives on April 19, 1861 in Baltimore, when a mob attacked them as they were traversing the 10 blocks between the train station where they had disembarked to the train station where they would continue their journey south. The incident, known variously as the Baltimore Riot of 1861, the Pratt Street Riots, and the Pratt Street Massacre, occurred one week after the Civil War started.

The date was inadvertently charged with meaning, as it was the 86th anniversary of the battles in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts that started the American Revolutionary War. And the hometown of Ladd and Addison Whitney, who died alongside him, carried extra significance in the context of the Civil War. Lowell was America’s first industrial city, full of textile mills. After the cotton was grown in the south and harvested by enslaved people, it went to Lowell, where young, unmarried women known as mill girls transformed it into cloth.

Weeks or perhaps days before he died, Ladd donned his uniform and sat for an ambrotype photograph. The only known example of its kind, it will appear in the Printed & Manuscript Americana sale taking place at Swann Auction Galleries on Thursday, September 28, with an estimate of $8,000-$12,000.

A second lot in the sale, estimated at $800-$1,200, relates to the aftermath of the Baltimore riot. Lot 111 features a funeral program for the May 6, 1861 services for Ladd and Whitney, held at Lowell’s Huntington Hall, the very building from which their company departed. Also included are two cartes-de-visite of the obelisk-topped memorial under which the soldiers’ remains were reburied in 1865. Known as the Ladd and Whitney monument, it still stands on a triangular strip of land mere feet from Lowell City Hall and Lowell High School, looking exactly as it does in the period photos in the Swann sale.

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Unique ambrotype of Luther C. Ladd, a Union soldier from Lowell, Mass. who became the first fatality of the Civil War, estimated at $8,000-$12,000 at Swann Auction Galleries.
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Funeral program for the services held in May 1861 in Lowell, Mass. for Union soldiers Luther C. Ladd and Addison Whitney, along with cartes-de-visite of the 1865 monument dedicated in their honor, estimated at $800-$1,200 at Swann Auction Galleries.
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October 7, 1789 issue of the Gazette of the United States containing the first national Thanksgiving proclamation, issued by President George Washington, estimated at $15,000-$25,000 at Swann Auction Galleries.
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Photograph from a trove of archival material relating to Robert E. Peary, American explorer of the Arctic, estimated at $50,000-$75,000 at Swann Auction Galleries.
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Handbill and photograph from a collection of archival material relating to Ford’s Theatre, the site of Lincoln’s assassination, and the Ford family, estimated at $50,000-$75,000 at Swann Auction Galleries.
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Beachy keen: Case readies 1,200-lot auction, July 8-9

Detail of George Hughes cover illustration for the August 2, 1952 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, estimated at $18,000-$22,000. Image courtesy of Case
George Hughes cover illustration for the August 2, 1952 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, estimated at $18,000-$22,000. Image courtesy of Case
George Hughes cover illustration for the August 2, 1952 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, estimated at $18,000-$22,000. Image courtesy of Case

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — 20th-century fine art provides a vivid backdrop for an array of more than 1,200 lots at Case’s Summer Auction, set for Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9. Standouts include large estate collections of fine jewelry and luxury fashion, as well as a treasure trove of flags and other Civil War Navy relics that descended from Rear Admiral John Ancrum Winslow, who commanded the USS Kearsarge to victory against the CSS Alabama. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Gaze upon faces from American history at Hindman, June 15-16

Half plate daguerreotype of three gold miners, estimated at $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy of Hindman
Half plate daguerreotype of three gold miners, estimated at $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy of Hindman
Half plate daguerreotype of three gold miners, estimated at $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy of Hindman

CINCINNATI – Hindman will present two days of manuscripts, archives, early photography and artifacts spanning the entirety of American history in its June 15-16 American Historical Ephemera & Photography auction. The June 15 session will focus on American conflicts including the Civil War and Indian Wars, as well as African Americana and early photography, while the second day is devoted to politics, Native American history and the settling of the American West. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Milestone presents fine sporting, Civil War & Old West firearms, June 10-11

Very fine Winchester Model 1866 Yellow Boy .44-caliber rimfire rifle designed by Oliver Winchester as the continuation to the famed Henry rifle. This example, manufactured in 1886, features a gunmetal brass receiver with full-length octagon barrel and full-length magazine. Barrel has two-line Winchester address, German silver sporting blade front sight, and elevation-adjustable rear sight. Excellent full-size stocks. Estimate $15,000-$25,000

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – Over the weekend of June 10-11, Milestone Auctions will open its doors to an arsenal of antique, vintage and other fine weapons chosen expressly for the summer edition of its Premier Collectible Firearms sale. The 1,421-lot auction event, featuring the types and brands of military, civilian and sporting arms hobbyists yearn for, welcomes absentee and Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.

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Swann sets focus on the African American experience with Mar. 30 auction

Archive of photographs, negatives and slides taken or developed by famed jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, estimated at $10,000-$15,000

Archive of photographs, negatives and slides taken or developed by famed jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, estimated at $10,000-$15,000

NEW YORK — The Thursday, March 30 auction of Printed & Manuscript African Americana at Swann Galleries will feature 300 lots dedicated to the African American experience in North America. The sale includes material documenting the dark days of slavery and the Civil War through the modern era with ephemera related to the Civil Rights movement, artists, performances and concerts and Black-owned businesses. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Teddy Roosevelt’s silver watch, Sitting Bull portrait lead Blackwell’s March 18 auction

Caroline Weldon (Swiss/American, 1844-1921), oil-on-canvas portrait of Lakota Sioux leader Sitting Bull (1831-1890), painted from life in 1890. Artist-signed and dated LR, identified at LL corner as ‘Sitting Bull.’ Size: 27 x 22in (sight), 35½ x 30½ in (framed). Provenance: Railroad engineer William Lafayette Darling, thence by descent to consignor. Estimate $40,000-$80,000
Theodore Roosevelt’s American Waltham pocket watch in a coin-silver case. Gifted to him in 1898 by his sister Corinne Roosevelt Robinson and engraved inside cover: ‘THEODORE ROOSEVELT’ and ‘From D.R. and C.R.R.’ Watch is referenced in detail in a thank-you letter published in Corinne Roosevelt Robinson’s 1924 book ‘My Brother Theodore Roosevelt.’ Estimate $100,000-$200,000

CLEARWATER, Fla. – America’s rich cultural history is laced with heroes and scalawags, blue-blooded entrepreneurs and immigrant achievers who rose from the humblest beginnings. All who contributed to the colorful tapestry of our 246-year-old nation – whether saintly or scurrilous – are part of our nation’s story, which serves as the backdrop for Blackwell Auctions’ March 18 event titled “The American Sale.” Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Personal items from legendary sharpshooter Annie Oakley to be auctioned March 18

1926 check handwritten and hand-signed by Annie Oakley Butler, her married name

CLEARWATER, Fla. – On March 18, 2023, Blackwell Auctions will offer several items personally owned by Annie Oakley, including an engraved carriage clock gifted to her for her birthday during her European tour in 1901. Several other items will also be offered, including 16 books that were owned – and, in some cases, signed – by Oakley, including a book inscribed to her husband by the author, bandleader John Philip Sousa. The collection also boasts a personal check, signed by Oakley shortly before her death, made out to her niece.

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Maj. Donald Brownlow’s WWII relics lead the charge at Mohawk Arms, Dec. 17

General George S. Patton Jr. three-star collar insignia, which he wore during World War II, from the Donald G. Brownlow collection, estimated at $1,500-$3,000
General George S. Patton Jr. three-star collar insignia, which he wore during World War II, from the Donald G. Brownlow collection, estimated at $1,500-$3,000

BOUCKVILLE, N.Y. – Historically significant examples of militaria spanning multiple conflicts and generations from several collections will come up for bid in Militaria Auction #88 scheduled for Saturday, December 17 at Mohawk Arms, starting at 9 am Eastern time. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Morphy’s Nov. 15-16 Extraordinary Firearms & Militaria Auction targets rarest and best

Pair of circa-1978 Ivo Fabbri (Italian) sidelock side-by-side 12-gauge shotguns, custom made with engraved mythological and fantasy scenes by Claudio Tomasoni. The duo has been featured twice on the cover of American Shotgunner magazine (April 1981, June 1986). Beautiful pair of game guns exhibiting the world’s highest standard of quality and design from a company that makes only around 30 firearms per year. Presented in fine two-gun leather luggage case. Estimate $60,000-$90,000

DENVER, Pa. – Two days of unprecedented buying opportunities await bidders at Morphy Auctions’ Nov. 15-16 Extraordinary Firearms & Militaria Auction. A breathtaking 800-lot selection of rare military and civilian arms follows a timeline that runs from the early 18th century through contemporary times. Several lots are historically significant, with ties to Civil War legends and even “The King” himself, Elvis Presley. Bid absentee or live online through LiveAuctioneers.

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Hake’s brings more rare Star Wars, vintage video games to auction, Nov. 15-16

Encased Star Wars (1978) 3.75in Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi 12 Back-A double-telescoping lightsaber action figure with SKU on footer denoted earlier production, AFA 75 Ex+/NM. Extremely rare and only the third carded specimen of its type ever to be offered by Hake’s. Estimate $100,000-$200,000. Image courtesy of Hake’s Auctions
Encased Star Wars (1978) 3.75in Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi 12 Back-A double-telescoping lightsaber action figure with SKU on footer denoted earlier production, AFA 75 Ex+/NM. Extremely rare and only the third carded specimen of its type ever to be offered by Hake’s. Estimate $100,000-$200,000. Image courtesy of Hake’s Auctions
Encased Star Wars (1978) 3.75in Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi 12 Back-A double-telescoping lightsaber action figure with SKU on footer denoted earlier production, AFA 75 Ex+/NM. Extremely rare and only the third carded specimen of its type ever to be offered by Hake’s. Estimate $100,000-$200,000. Image courtesy of Hake’s Auctions

YORK, Pa. – The quest for early Star Wars collectibles has reached a fevered pitch, but the auction market tells us the journey is just beginning. Interest in Star Wars items is stronger than ever, especially for prototypes and samples, rare variations, and toys produced in low numbers or no numbers at all. To some, it may seem that Hake’s – the auction house holding numerous world records for Star Wars material – has already sold the ultimate rarities from that wildly popular category. But exciting surprises continue to emerge, some from unexpected sources, and those fresh consignments and new discoveries will be front and center at Hake’s November 15-16 pop culture auction. View the fully illustrated catalog on LiveAuctioneers.

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