By The Beachwood Lincoln Lamps Affairs Desk
Any editorial comment or mention that you may give this press release would be greatly appreciated.
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THE LAMPS THAT LIT LINCOLN’S WEDDING TO BE AUCTIONED
YONKERS, NY – The set of three lamps by which the young Abraham Lincoln read and studied, and which illuminated his 1842 wedding to Mary Todd, will be sold at auction on February 25, 2009.
This is only the third appearance of these iconic bronze and crystal lamps on the market in some 166 years. For decades, they were displayed at the Lincoln Homestead in Springfield, Illinois, and were seen by millions. The pre-sale estimate for the trio is $40,000 – $70,000. Here are two of them.
Also to be sold is the original handwritten letter ordering the Springfield cemetery to stand by for arrival of Lincoln’s body, April 26, 1865 ($7,500 – $10,000).
Over 500 other lots of collectibles in the auction include:
* Slaves offered as intact families, in an 1850’s poster ($2,750 – $3,500).
* Very rare letter of Emma Lazarus, the poet who wrote the immortal words at the base of the Statue of Liberty ($10,000 – $13,500).
* When America had 789 different models of automobiles. An automobile archive of nearly one thousand official documents, each with the identifying marque of a different bygone car, truck or bus. These are the “birth certificates” for GM’s doomed Oakland, Oldsmobile and Viking cars, the first Chrysler of 1924, old time Fords, 1930 Checker Cab, Duesenberg, Lincoln, Rolls-Royce, Studebaker, Tucker and many more. The now-unique documents reflect the golden era of an industry that once had hundreds of American auto manufacturers, from Aerocar to Wizard – far from the Big Three struggling today (total of 919 items, estimate $45,000 – $65,000).
* The handwritten journal of a plantation overseer during the Civil War, part of a major collection of rare letters and documents on life in the old South (over 110 items, $40,000 – $60,000).
* Rare complete sheet of 100 labels sold to raise funds for the Scottsboro Boys, the nine blacks falsely accused in 1931. The case attracted international attention, and is regarded as an early cornerstone of the civil rights movement. All were found innocent; it took twenty years for one of the defendants to gain his freedom ($850 – $950).
In a historical coincidence, just two weeks before Lincoln was killed, the auction house’s Yonkers building was rented by one of the Lincoln assassination conspirators. In a lesser-known parallel plot, the saloon-keeper “Snevel” vanished, was caught by the Secret Service, and brought before Congress to testify.
There are many other unusual, historical items in thirty-four categories.
Contact Information:
Bob Snyder
Cohasco, Inc.
ESTABLISHED 63 YEARS
P.O. Drawer 821
Yonkers, New York 10702
Phone: (914) 476-8500
Fax: (914) 476-8573
E-mail: info@cohascodpc.com
Posted on February 5, 2009