Broadside Offering Reward For Lincoln’s Assassin Brings $200,000 In Heritage’s $1.9 Million Americana & Political Auction

Kennedy “Inauguration” Bible finishes at $162,500 DOWNLOAD DIGITAL PRESS KIT DALLAS, Texas (April 29, 2024) — A rare first printing and first issue of perhaps the most famous reward poster in American history sold for $200,000 to lead Heritage’s April 26-27 Americana & Political Signature® Auction to $1,899,089. The Abraham Lincoln: John Wilkes Booth Assassination Broadside, which was issued by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton on behalf of the War Department, doubled its pre-auction estimate to lead the event, in which more than 1,800 bidders took part in their pursuit of nearly 800 lots. This example is fresh to market, having remained in the same family since the time of the assassination. “This is a very important piece of American history,” says Don Ackerman, Heritage’s Managing Director of Political Americana. “When issued, John Wilkes Booth and his two main accomplices were still at large, and broadsides like this one were extremely important in the effort to gain information about their location. There are three versions of the large reward poster, and all are incredibly rare and sought-after.” An “Inauguration” Bible used by Jackie Kennedy to select verses to be read at her husband’s funeral ended at $162,500. On the day of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, this Bible was used by his widow to choose which verses would be read at his requiem mass in Washington, D.C. It carries the “Inauguration Bible” label because it is gold-stamped on the bottom, “January 20, 1961” — the date of JFK’s inauguration. It includes an inscription by Jackie Kennedy along with JFK’s bookplate and originated with Cardinal Richard Cushing. More than two dozen calls — or bids — poured in for a First-Generation 4GB iPhone, Sealed in Box with Apple Drawstring Bag before it stopped ringing at $75,000. Early smartphones have become extremely popular among collectors, making this first-generation prototype, production of which was discontinued just two months after its 2007 debut, a must-have technological treasure. Further adding to the appeal of this example is the fact that this rare variant remains sealed in its original box with retail plastic shrink-wrap packaging and came with its original drawstring bag. An American Flag retrieved at the World Trade Center during the cleanup efforts after the September 11, 2001 attacks drew a winning bid of $41,250. Because of the large number of government offices in the World Trade Center buildings and the tradition of flag ownership by private individuals, it is believed that hundreds of flags were inside the buildings, but only a handful, including the one offered in this auction, survived the fires and the collapse of the towers, and of those, most went to public institutions, including the Smithsonian, the New York State Museum and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. A painting by President Dwight D. Eisenhower of the Camp David presidential retreat closed at $40,000. The country’s 34th president was an amateur painter, and signed this 20-by-16-inch oil on canvas “D D E” in the lower right corner. It is inscribed on the back of the stretcher “To George R. Bechatel from Sue Eisenhower granddaughter of Pres. DDE 8-15-68.” Also reaching $40,000 was the tablecloth on which President Abraham Lincoln ate his last meal. Mary Lincoln gave it to her friend, Mrs. James H. Knowlton, wife of a Wisconsin legislator and county judge who once also practiced law in Chicago. Other top lots in the auction included, but were not limited to: Peter Force’s 1833 Printing of the Declaration of Independence. [Peter Force]. Declaration of Independence: $30,000 [George Armstrong Custer]: Battle of Little Bighorn Trophy Arrows: $30,000 A Woman’s Suffrage: Unique Suffrage Silver Medal For Duty Issued to Emmeline Pankhurst Nurse by W.S.P.U.: $30,000 A 20-Star American Flag: Circa 1818 Naval Ensign Boat Flag with Provenance and Important Ties to American Frontier History: $25,000 Complete results from the auction can be found at HA.com/6268. Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world's largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet's most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 1,750,000 registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of 6,000,000 past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit. For breaking stories, follow us: HA.com/Facebook and HA.com/Twitter . Link to this release or view prior press releases . Hi-Res images available: Steve Lansdale, Public Relations Specialist 214-409-1699 or SteveL@HA.com