May 21 Auction in Chicago to Feature over 140 Items from the Extraordinary Life of America’s 16th President
Freeman’s | Hindman is delighted to share early highlights from Lincoln’s Legacy: Historic Americana from the Life of Abraham Lincoln, a landmark public auction of manuscripts, letters, campaign ephemera, keepsakes and personal effects that chronicle the extraordinary life of America’s 16th President. The auction will be presented live and online on May 21, 2025 at Freeman’s | Hindman Chicago headquarters in Lincoln’s home state of Illinois.
Lincoln’s Legacy is presented on behalf of the Lincoln Presidential Foundation, a national non-profit, which owns an extensive collection of Lincoln-related historic materials. The Foundation has entrusted Freeman’s | Hindman with the sale of approximately 140 carefully-selected items from the collection, while retaining 1,400 varied and important items for continued scholarly research, programming, and loan exhibitions.
The objects featured in the sale are representative of all phases of Abraham Lincoln’s life – from his teenage years through to his tragic death by assassination – and underscores the widespread continuing appeal of his legacy. Individual lot estimates will range from $100 up to $800,000, and the total sale is expected to achieve in excess of $4 million.
Throughout the months of April and May, Freeman’s | Hindman will host public previews of items from the sale via a five-city tour, with stops at the auction house’s locations in New York City, Palm Beach, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Chicago. complete auction catalogue will be available in print and online prior to sale.
Freeman’s | Hindman CEO Alyssa Quinlan stated: “As America’s oldest auction house, Freeman’s | Hindman is honored to bring this exceptional selection of Lincolniana to market. Each of the items featured in this sale has been curated with care, to reveal a nuanced and at times surprising portrait of the person who would become one of America’s greatest leaders. Our firm has a long history of success with important American manuscripts and Presidential material, and we look forward to welcoming both private collectors and institutions to our preview events across the country this April, leading up to the auction on May 21.”
Christopher Brink, Senior Specialist and Head of Sale, Books & Manuscripts, noted, “In the history of the category of American presidential material, this selection is among the most significant to come to auction. The sale includes a number of items previously acquired directly from Lincoln’s descendants, and many more that will be making their first appearance at public auction.”
Tour Highlights
The earliest known example of Lincoln’s writing, dating from when he was about 15 years old, is featured on a double-sided sum book leaf covered in long division practice sums and signed three times. In one corner, he displays a wry, teenaged humor, writing: “Abraham Lincoln is my name / And with my pen I wrote / the same / I wrote in both hast and speed / and left it here for fools / to read” (detail image at right; estimate: $300,000-$400,000).
Autograph sum book leaf signed three times ("Abraham Lincoln"), Pigeon Creek, Spencer County, Indiana, ca 1824-1826.
Lincoln’s early endeavors in state-level politics are documented through rare printed materials. In 1837, he was the author of the anonymous Adams Handbill, a printed notice to the public that was distributed on the streets of Springfield, Illinois in the run-up to that year’s contentious local elections. Printed on a single sheet in three columns, the handbill is the only known surviving copy of the first printed work by Abraham Lincoln (estimate: $200,000-300,000).
Personal effects from Lincoln and his family will be featured throughout the sale, including wearable items, early photographs, and small keepsakes. Among the tour highlights are two items President Lincoln wore to Ford’s Theatre on the night of his assassination on April 14, 1865: a single cuff button (estimate: $200,000-300,000) and a pair of white kid gloves stained with blood (pictured at left: estimate: $800,000-1,200,000). Also featured is a white marble sculpture, completed by the sculptor Leonard Wells Volk in 1869, which elegantly memorializes Lincoln with a depiction of his right hand (estimate: $5,000-7,000).
A pair of blood-stained white kid-leather gloves carried by President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre the night of his assassination, 14 April 1865.
An array of 19th century campaign ephemera, including items worn or carried by Lincoln’s “Wide Awakes” supporters, offers a view into his first run for President in 1860. A stars and stripes parade flag bears the names of Lincoln and his running mate Hannibal Hamlin (estimate: $20,000-30,000); a tin campaign torch on a wooden pole is painted with the names Lincoln and Hamlin (pictured last page; estimate: $1,000-1,500) and a campaign ribbon bears a portrait of the candidate above the words “For President” (estimate: $800-1,200).
A campaign torch, ca 1860.
Among the important historical documents featured in the sale is a rare first printing of Lincoln’s celebrated Second Inaugural Address (pictured at right; estimate: $40,000-60,000). Consisting of only 701 words, Lincoln’s speech remains one of the most admired of his writings, in which he calls for national unity and compassion, encapsulated in his famous words: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds". In his essay on President Lincoln, General Carl Schurz referred to the speech as "a sacred poem” in which "[Lincoln] poured out the whole devotion and tenderness of his great soul.”
Historic Americana at Freeman’s | Hindman
Among auction houses, Freeman’s | Hindman is a clear market leader in the broad category of historic Americana, which seeks to illuminate the political, social and cultural history of the United States. Building on the nationally-recognized excellence of Cowan’s Auctions in the category, Freeman’s | Hindman Books & Manuscripts and American Historical Ephemera Departments bring to market exceptional artifacts, printed materials, early photography, ephemera and more, working with private collectors and major institutions across the U.S.
Recent top prices for highly-sought-after historical documents include $4.4 million for a Signer’s copy of the Declaration of Independence – the highest auction price ever achieved for an American document printed in the 19th century; $2.4 million for an 1787 letter from George Washington to Thomas Jefferson transmitting a copy of the U.S. Constitution, doubling its pre-sale estimate; and most recently, $2 million for a rare ink wash drawing gifted to President George Washington by the Marquis de Lafayette, which nearly quadrupled its low estimate after an intense ten-minute bidding battle in the saleroom.
Lincoln’s Legacy: Historic Americana from the Life of Abraham Lincoln
Exhibition Schedule:
New York: April 1 – 4
Palm Beach: April 10 – 11, April 14 – 17
Philadelphia: April 23 – 26
Cincinnati: April 29 – May 2
Chicago: May 12 – 21
Auction:
May 21 at 10am CT (live and online bidding)
Freeman’s | Hindman Chicago
1550 W Carroll Street, Chicago, IL
Press Preview and Photo Opportunity:
April 1, 2025 from 10am – 1pm
Freeman’s | Hindman New York
32 East 67th Street, NY, NY
RSVP to [email protected]