1st Edition Of Emancipation Proclamation & Final Edition Of Lincoln's Hair

by Stephen J. Gertz

A copy of the first edition in book form of the Emancipation Proclamation, the document that freed the slaves in the Southern states during the American Civil War, will be offered by Heritage Auctions in its Americana and Political Signature sale May 24, 2014. It is estimated to sell for $5,000-$7,000.

The Proclamation in its preliminary form was issued by President Lincoln on September 22, 1862. It stressed military necessity as the basis for the freeing the slaves. The revised and final Proclamation became official on January 1, 1863. It was published as a broadside and simultaneously as a  seven-page booklet (3 1/8 x 2 1/8 in.) in pink wrappers in December 1862 by John Murray Forbes, a Boston Unionist who helped to raise troops, including the famous 54th Massachusetts Regiment. The booklet, seen above, was intended for distribution to Union troops who, in turn, could distribute copies to slaves in regions of the South occupied by Union forces.

It has the original thread binding and a brass grommet through pages 5-7 and the back cover. It is estimated that less than ten copies have survived.

Collectors of celebrity and historical hair will have their own stand on end and dance a jig in their follicles when Heritage offers five strands of Abraham Lincoln's scalp hair, part of a lock clipped while The Great Emancipator was on his deathbed. The hairs are estimated to sell for $1,000-$1,500.

The lock was originally owned by Dr. Charles Sabin Taft who was the second surgeon to treat Lincoln on the evening of his assassination. The five hairs are part of the most authenticated lock of Lincoln's hair extant. It was originally removed by Dr. Charles Leale, the first surgeon to arrive in aid of the dying President, so he could have clear access to examine and treat Lincoln's wound.

The lock was given to Mrs. Lincoln who soon returned it to Dr. Taft as a gift in appreciation of his efforts. Taft was a young surgeon who attended wounded Union troops at a Washington hospital and had become acquainted with the President during Lincoln's visits to the recovering soldiers. Dr. Taft willed the hair to his son, Charles C. Taft, who sold it to William H. Lambert in 1908.

Upon Lambert's death, the Lincoln hair was sold to Henry C. Hines, in whose possession it remained until 1993 when it was discovered in his estate. The small hairs are preserved in a plastic sleeve and barely perceptible in the image above. Copies of dozens of letters, documents and articles accompany the strands of hair as well as a Certificate of Authenticity from John Reznikoff of University Archives, holder of the Guinness World Record for the largest and most valuable collection of celebrity hair. A dubious distinction to the artifact-jaded, perhaps but I, for one, think DNA testing on literary celebrities' hair could be quite revealing; I'd like to get a load o' Georges Sand's genome, for historical purposes only, of course.

Included is a letter from Charles C. Taft to Civil War sergeant, writer, and famed collector of Lincoln memorabilia, Osborn H. I. Oldroyd (1842-1930), offering the lock of hair in 1907.

Dear Sir,

I am in receipt of yours from the 13th and contents noted. in reply will state that I will sell you the Lock of Hair and cuff button from the late President Abraham Lincoln for one thousand dollars. I consider this a very low figure for such precious articles, and were it not that I can use the money, I would not part with them at any price. Awaiting your reply.

Very truly yours,

Charles C. Taft

It is unknown how many strands of hair were in the original lock. Charles C. Taft split hairs, presenting six strands to John Hay, Lincoln's personal assistant and, later, Secretary of State. Hay had his six strands put inside a ring and in 1905 presented them to President Theodore Roosevelt upon the occasion of his inauguration with a letter that read "The hair in this ring is from the head of Abraham Lincoln. Dr. Taft cut it off the night of his assassination." The rest of the lock remained in Taft's possession.

His offer to Oldroyd declined, in 1908 Taft wrote to General James Grant Wilson offering the Lincoln Hair and a cuff button for sale. Wilson couldn't purchase the items but he alerted Major William H. Lambert. Lambert purchased the Lincoln items in a well documented sale on March 12, 1908.

For collectors of Americana, particularly of Lincolniana, these five strands of Lincoln's hair should be tantamount to five leaves from a Gutenberg Bible yet they are being offered for only $200-$300 per strand.

For perspective, a lock of Elvis Presley's hair sold in 2009 for $15,000. Our cultural priorities appear to be twisted; sic semper tyrannis, Jack. Perhaps if Lincoln had  sung Heartbreak Hotel while  wearing blue suede shoes on the night of the assassination his hair would be  appraised at higher price.

Not too long ago twelve strands of Michael Jackson's hair sold for $2,000, a price that seems rather low but the hairs were singed in 1984 while Jackson was shooting a Pepsi commercial and his head accidentally caught fire during the pyrotechnical display: condition is everything. Michael Jackson hair in fine condition would surely have been a thriller and fetched a great deal more.

Hair today, gone tomorrow, the auctioneer declared then ducked a tomato thrown his way.

__________

Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions, with our thanks.
__________
__________

JFK, The Stripper, The Cuban Missile Crisis And Lincoln Bedroom

by Stephen J. Gertz

Two signed autograph letters from burlesque queen Blaze Starr (born 1932 as Fannie Belle Fleming) to an unknown correspondent are being auctioned by Nate D. Sanders Auctions this Thursday, February 28, 2013. Within, Blaze makes a clean breast of events and bares all, providing an intimate view of the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 and a once upon a mattress reminisce about paranormal activity in the Lincoln bedroom .

The first letter reads in full:

''...Just a line to answer your letter. Oh yes there was a lot of things I didn't tell in my book or the movie 'Blaze.' After Governor Earl K. Long passed away I renewed my friendship with then president J.F.K. C.B.S. newsman Paul Niven was a friend of J.F.K. he would pick me up at my home, about twenty minutes from D.C., and we would meet at Paul's home in Georgetown. As we entered Paul's home the phone rang. It was J.F.K. Plans had changed and he told Paul to bring me to a certain office in the Capitol. I wore a head scarf, sunglasses, and carried Paul's briefcase. As we walked by the Oval Office the door was open. There was loads of people all around. Robert Kennedy stood in the open door. Vice President L.B.J. stood in the hall with his arms folded. We entered an office and J.F.K. was right behind us. As Paul left we closed the door. After a short time, (very short), J.F.K. jumped up and said he was very, very, sorry but he had to leave. While he was dressing he said Boy, if Fidel Castro had something like you, he would think more about making Love, and less about making war. I said, why did you say that? J.F.K. said oh, I was just thinking out loud. Me and Paul left I didn't realize until I saw the evening news on T.V. that the President had left the Cuban Missile Crisis meeting to spend a short time with me. I felt very proud of myself I did my part for my country that day..."

You read correctly: Blaze Starr served her country with a patriot act decades before the Patriot Act was signed into law and Sybil Liberties, the Bill of Right's ecdysiast mascot with the mostess, got screwed. Left unspoken is what fascinating turn history might have taken had JFK sent Blaze into the Bay of Pigs and arms of Fidel Castro with a bump-bump here, a bump-bump there, and a shimmy and a shake instead of Cuban exiles ashore.

In the second letter - it, too, written on Blaze's bodacious letterhead - she recounts a mysterious rendezvous with JFK in the Lincoln bedroom,  the ghost of the Great Emancipator in attendance as a voyeur from the great beyond:

''Just a line to answer your letter. Oh yes there was a lot of things I didn't tell in my book or the movie 'Blaze.' Jackie Kennedy was my idol. After Governor Earl Long passed away I renewed my friendship with then President J.F.K. I had known him since 1952. He was a regular on weekends, at a club I worked in D.C. C.B.S. newsman Paul Niven was a good friend of J.F.K. He would pick me up at my house in Maryland, about twenty minutes from D.C., and we would meet at Paul's house in Georgetown. I told J.F.K. about my fantasy with the Lincoln bedroom. He said lets go. Jackie was away on a cruise. After about an hour, J.F.K. had to leave for a meeting. Paul was to come for me. I got dressed and was redoing my makeup, when I noticed a life size statue, (I thought) of Lincoln in a corner. He was wearing a tall black hat, a dark suit and a white shirt. Paul arrived and as I was leaving, I turned and jokingly said, thank you President Lincoln for use of your bedroom. There was nothing there. I froze in my tracks. Paul said lots of people have seen him there. Queen Nora [?] once ran from that room in her panties, bra, and a towel. That was his ghost as sure as I live. Queen Nora never returned to that room again and neither did I. Maybe Old 'Abe' liked to watch...''

Oh, yes there were a lot of things she didn't tell in her book or the movie 'Blaze'; you need her letters, each, apparently, beginning with the same hush-hush entre-nous opening, to get the secret history. Her sapphic ménage à trois, for instance, with Mamie Eisenhower and Eleanor Roosevelt; the ménage à oy with Earl Long and Martin Short; with young Mick Jagger and old Herbert Hoover; with George M. Cohan and a grand old flagpole. The list goes on but discretion and Blaze's fecund imagination preclude further disclosure of apocryphal events.

Each letter is signed ''Blaze Starr'' with hearts and a star around her name. Her lip-prints appear genuine and not rubber stamped. The letters measure 8.5'' x 11'' and are in near fine condition. The minimum bid for each is $500.

___________

Letter images courtesy of Nate D. Sanders Auctions, with our thanks.

___________

___________

Autograph In The Rue Morgue: A Tell-Tale Poe Forgery

By Stephen J. Gertz

The signature in question.

Poe used two styles of handwriting, a fluent script in his letters to intimate friends, and a painstakingly legible hand in his formal letters and the manuscripts he prepared for publication. Poe's is the most avidly sought of American literary autographs. Anything in his hand, signed or unsigned, commands an awe-inspiring price (Charles Hamilton, Collecting Autographs and Manuscripts, p. 116).

Hamilton's samples.

It was Pavlov's dog-time when a beautifully rebound first edition copy of Poe's Tales (1845) landed on my desk with a breathtaking slip tipped-in to one of the preliminary blanks.

The slip was addressed, To Col. Richard B. Mason / Holmes Island / Lustrins Calf., and signed, in the lower left corner, From Edgar A. Poe.

Mother of Mercy!

Then I looked closely and my salivary glands withered like grapes into raisins.

The tipped-in slip.

First, the hand that wrote the signature and that which addressed the slip are completely different, beyond those variations noted by Hamilton. The address bears little if any resemblance to samples of Poe's casual or formal penmanship. Poe did not write that address.

Authenticated examples of Poe's signature.
Note informal style at center. Courtesy of TomFolio.

Furthermore, it makes no sense that, if Poe had written the address, he would have used his formal and painstakingly written signature as sender. He would have likely used his informal autograph as seen above at center. Note, too, that, based upon authentic samples, when Poe wrote his formal signature he invariably added a final, usually decorative, underline. That flourish is absent from this formal autograph.

Authentic Poe letter.
Courtesy of Bauman's Rare Books.

But more than the general differences in handwriting, the weird mix of formal and informal styles on the same slip, and the absence of an underscore to the signature, there is a nearly invisible sign that this autograph was obviously monkeyed with. The lower left corner of the slip upon which  the Poe autograph is found has been washed. It is not obvious unless viewed at the proper angle in the right light. When the slip was recently photographed it was lit so that the washing would be apparent.

Detail of signature from above letter.

This copy of Tales was rebound c. 1920s by Curtis Walters of New York. That approximate date of rebinding, when the slip was likely tipped-in, provides a tantalizing possibility about the origin of this forgery. It suggests that it was the work of Martin Coneely, aka Joseph Cosey (1887-?1950).

Joseph Cosey.

At some point during the early 1920s Cosey visited the Library of Congress and stole a pay warrant signed by Benjamin Franklin dated 1786. Shortly thereafter and broke, he attempted to sell the document to a dealer. The dealer rejected it, claiming it to be a fake. Indignant, Cosey went home and carefully, after studying examples, forged Abraham Lincoln's signature and presented it to the same dealer, who bought it. Cosey felt triumphant.

Franklin, Lincoln, and Poe became his favorite subjects; Cosey had a deep affection for Poe's work. Cosey was good, very, very good. He used period ink, paper, and writing instruments. It is known that he used modern chemicals to treat paper when necessary.

I strongly suspect that this example of Poe's signature to this addressed slip was the work of Cosey, perhaps an early exercise at a time when Poe autograph and manuscript material was hot (it still is),  he was beginning to experiment with paper-treating chemicals, and curious about what he could get away with. 

Part of Cosey's genius was that when he offered his work he never claimed it to be authentic; he left it up to the buyer to decide. If the work was subsequently judged to be faked he was in the clear; it was the dealers who erred in their evaluation. I imagine that he offered this early exercise as a test to see if it would fly. It, apparently, did. At the time the unknown duped buyer (perhaps Walters, or the bookseller or collector who commissioned the binding) purchased it autograph and manuscript forensics were in adolescence, few dealers had deep experience with Poe autograph material (there was not much genuine material recorded at the time - nor now), and the quest for Poe material likely blinded those involved to err on the side of hope.

Authenticated Poe addressed envelope.

All forgers have a "tell,' something that gives them away. For Cosey, it was the simple fact that signatures evolve over time. He was appending Franklin autographs forged from samples from early in Franklin's life to documents written later when Franklin's handwriting had deteriorated. His Lincoln forgeries were revealed by "A. Lincoln" being on the same plane; genuine Lincoln signatures have "Lincoln" slightly raised above the initial "A."

Authentic Poe manuscript sample.Courtesy of Cornell University.

In the hierarchy of autograph material an author's direct signature to one their books is valued higher than a tipped-in envelope with autograph. A tipped-in "clipped" signature (the autograph excised from an original document) is valued even lower. If this tipped-in slip with autograph had been authentic it would have likely added at least $5,000 to the book. As it turns out, because of his notoriety, skill, and chutzpah, Coesy forgeries have become collectible in their own right. There remain samples not yet firmly identified, and this may be one of them.

If it can be firmly attributed to Cosey it may add $500-$750 to the book's market value.

At this point, however, what we have is a very interesting and lovely first edition of Poe's Tales with an obviously fake autograph, one that may be significant as an early example in the development of a notorious master forger.

It's certainly not the story I hoped for when I first laid eyes upon this copy of Poe's Tales. But it's still a pretty good one, a latter-day Poe tale of mystery and imagination.

__________
__________