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The Independent
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Abraham Lincoln's blood-stained gloves sold as millions raised at controversial auction
The blood-stained leather gloves that were in Lincoln's pocket the night he was assassinated have been sold for $1.52 million at a controversial auction. The gloves were among the treasured artifacts associated with President Abraham Lincoln that were sold on Wednesday. One of two handkerchiefs Lincoln had with him April 14, 1865, the night he was shot, went for $826,000. A 'Wanted' poster featuring photos of three suspects in the assassination conspiracy, led by John Wilkes Booth, sold for $762,500, far higher than the top estimated price of $120,000. And the earliest known sample of the 16th president's handwriting, from a notebook in 1824, fetched $521,200. A total of 144 items were up for bid, 136 of which sold. They were auctioned to pay off the remainder of a two-decade-old loan that the Lincoln Presidential Foundation used to buy a one-of-a-kind cluster of Lincoln artifacts from a California collector. The items were bought in 2007 from collector Louise Taper, who expressed anger at the auction before it took place. Taper said she sold the items hoping they would live on in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The museum opened in 2005. The items were separated from a collection that was intended to be available for public display forever but wound up in the middle of an interagency feud amid a lingering $8 million debt. The auction at Freeman's/Hindman in Chicago raised $7.9 million, but that includes buyers' premiums of roughly 28% tacked onto each sale to cover the auction house's administrative costs. Phone and email messages seeking comment were left for the foundation. Its website said proceeds from the auction would be put toward retiring the debt and 'any excess funds will go toward our continued care and display of our extensive collection.' The artifacts were supposed to give the library and museum, which was rich in Lincoln-related manuscripts, a boost in what it lacked — the meaty kind of curios that draw tourists. But fundraising was slow, forcing the sale of non-Lincoln portions of the collection and threats by the foundation to sell more before it finally extended the loan. In 2012 a controversy arose over what had been the crown jewel of the group — a stovepipe hat, appraised at $6 million, that Lincoln was said to have given as a gift to a southern Illinois supporter. That story came under intense scrutiny, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, resulting in a 2019 study that found there was no evidence the hat belonged to Lincoln. It was not part of Wednesday's auction.
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Blood-stained gloves from one of the most infamous moments in US history sell for $1.52 MILLION
Abraham Lincoln's blood-stained leather gloves - carried in his pocket the night he was assassinated - fetched a staggering $1.52 million at auction Wednesday, as a trove of historical artifacts was sold off to pay down an $8 million debt. The gloves were the star attraction among 144 rare Lincoln-related items that hit the block at Freeman's/Hindman Auction House in Chicago. A total of 136 pieces were sold, raising a whopping $7.9 million - though that figure includes steep buyers' premiums of around 28 percent, tacked on to cover auction house fees. The sale was the dramatic result of a two-decade-old financial mess involving the Lincoln Presidential Foundation. Back in 2007, the foundation borrowed big to buy a 1,540-piece collection from California collector Louise Taper. The items were meant to boost the appeal of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, which had opened just two years earlier. Intended to remain in public hands forever, the collection instead became a casualty of slow fundraising, financial strain and an interagency feud, the Associated Press reported. President Abraham Lincoln Over the years, the foundation sold off non-Lincoln pieces and even threatened to part with more prized items in order to keep the museum afloat. In addition to Lincoln's infamous blood-stained leather gloves, other big-ticket sales Wednesday included one of two handkerchiefs Lincoln had on him the night he was shot, April 14, 1865. The prized handkerchief sold for an unbelievable sum of $826,000. A 'Wanted' poster featuring assassination conspirators, including John Wilkes Booth, was also put up for sale, pulling in $762,500 - a figure which shocked auctioneers as it sold far above its top estimate of $120,000. Another item auctioned off included the earliest known example of Lincoln's handwriting, scribbled in an 1824 notebook and sold for $521,200. However, one controversial item was notably absent from the auction: Lincoln's stovepipe hat which was once appraised at $6 million and touted as the crown jewel of the Taper collection. In 2012, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation cast doubt on the iconic historical piece's authenticity, which was said to have been gifted to the 16th President by a southern Illinois supporter. Years later, a 2019 study confirmed the Sun-Time hypothesis suggesting that no proof exists that the hat ever belonged to Lincoln. The Lincoln Presidential Foundation did not immediately respond to email messages seeking comment.
The Independent
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Chicago auction house under fire for selling off items on Lincoln's body the night he was killed
Items that President Abraham Lincoln had the night he was assassinated – including white leather gloves with splatters of blood on them – are up for auction, drawing ire from the collection's former owner. On Wednesday, a Chicago auction house will be selling some of the Lincoln Presidential Foundation's 1,540-piece collection, bought in 2007 from collector Louise Taper. Taper, who sold the items hoping they would live on in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, was horrified to learn the items would soon be 'dispersed into the wind,' she told WBEZ Chicago. 'My intent was for these historic items to reside in a place for the public to enjoy and learn from,' she said. The foundation said it would auction off 114 items of the 1,540-piece collection to finally pay off the $23 million loan it took out to buy the artifacts in 2007. While the foundation anticipated being able to pay back the loan through private donations, it was still $9.7 million in debt several years ago when it launched a GoFundMe asking for help, the Washington Post reported. The foundation has contemplated auctioning some of its Lincoln collection over the years but avoided doing so after an uptick in fundraising in 2019, though it was not immediately clear how much was raised then. 'Proceeds from the sale will be used to satisfy our obligation to retire the outstanding loan balance from the Foundation's purchase of the collection,' the foundation said in a statement. 'Any excess funds will go toward our continued care and display of our extensive collection.' The items being sold include the first-known sample of Lincoln's handwriting from 1824, which is valued as high as $400,000. The writing, a yellowed page of mathematical equations, features then-15-year-old Lincoln's cursive handwriting at the top corner, which reads, 'Abraham Lincoln is my nam[e] / And with my pen I wrote / the same / I wrote in both hast[e] (sic) and speed / And left it here for fools / to read.' Other items set to be auctioned off include a swatch of a coat Lincoln was wearing the night he was assassinated, which was appraised for as much as $150,000, and a single cuff button with the letter 'L' that he was also wearing that night. The cuff button was appraised to be worth as much as $300,000. The most eye-catching piece being auctioned is a pair of blood-stained white leather gloves Lincoln had in his coat pocket at Ford's Theatre on the night of his assassination. The gloves were appraised at as much as $1.2 million. If each item being auctioned sells for its maximum appraised value, it could yield more than $6 million, according to WBEZ. The Foundation has not publicly stated how much it hopes to raise through the auction, or how much is left to pay off on the loan.
