Lincolniana and Stephen White Photography Collection at Freeman’s | Hindman
Extra-illustrated copy of John G. Nicolay and John Hay’s 1890 history of Abraham Lincoln (lot 99; estimate: $50,000 - $70,000
Visions of America: The Stephen White Collection comes to auction later this month focusing on the prominent American photography dealer, gallerist, and collector with a passion for printed and manuscript Americana.
Leading the sale is an extra-illustrated copy of John G. Nicolay and John Hay’s 1890 Abraham Lincoln: A History (estimate: $50,000 - $70,000), presumed to be from the collection of Samuel Hay Kauffmann, publisher of the Washington Star newspaper, Treasury Department clerk, and patron of the Corcoran and Smithsonian.
The lot features the original 10-volume work expanded by the addition of 44 photographs, 150 autographed letters and documents, 13 pieces of related ephemera, and around 450 photography plates. Among a number of rare images is a cabinet-size albumen print of President Lincoln with Secretaries Nicolay and Hays by photographer Alexander Gardner.
Among the notable manuscripts included is a letter signed by Lincoln as president to Simon Cameron, his secretary of war, in which the president asks that Charles S. Hamilton be named brigadier general of volunteers. Also included are four signed letters addressed to Lincoln during his presidency from the acting governor of the Utah Territory, the Executive Council of New Hampshire, the Pennsylvanian Congressional delegation, and the Citizens of Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
Other highlights of the auction on October 24 at the Freeman’s | Hindman Cincinnati saleroom include:
- the first volume of Theodor De Bry's Great Voyages, Thomas Hariot's Description of Virginia, 1590 (estimate: $30,000 - $50,000)
- a three-section panoramic view of Carbondale, PA. ca 1863-1865 (estimate: $9,000 - $12,000)
- an album containing approximately 350 photographs documenting the journey of the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to San Francisco for the Panama-Pacific Exposition, 1915 (estimate: $2,500 - $3,500)
