작품 상세

Abraham Lincoln Assassination Washington, DC, July 7, 1865 Unique Set of 5 CDVs of the Execution of the Conspirators by Alexander Gardner CDV [LINCOLN ASSASSINATION]. Alexander Gardner, Cartes-de-visité of Execution of Lincoln Conspirators. Washington, DC: Philp & Washington, 1865. 5 pp., 2.875" x 4". Usual flaws include slight fading most prevalent on #1. Some water stains. Collectors notes in pencil can be removed. Minor evidence of previous mounting. The Mount is included and creates a wonderful exhibit, but the photos have been removed to examine backstamps and condition. This series of five cartes-de-visité illustrates the execution of four conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on July 7, 1865, at the Washington Arsenal Penitentiary. On June 30, a military tribunal found Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt guilty for their roles in the plot and sentenced them to death. Alexander Gardner prepared these photographs during the course of the assassination. While later larger prints of these photos are extremely scarce they can be found as can stereoviews, however CDV's are very scarce and we can locate only one at recent auctions, that being a single cdv which sold at Heritage auctions in 2022 for $5750 (no. 4). We know of no others having been in the rooms much less a complete set which may not exist anywhere else in private hands. The first three images show the conspirators on the scaffolding with guards, clergy, and authorities. The fourth image shows the scene moments after the drops were sprung, and the fifth image shows the bodies hanging, but all the others had left the scaffold. Penciled notations on the verso of each carte-de-visité: "(1) first appearance [on the?] scaffold"; "(2) Death Warrant read to them"; "(3) Having their bodies prepared by Bandages or Cords"; "(4) [?]ing off"; "(5) final & Last Image before being cut down." Historical Background As the Civil War drew to a close, actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth and his fellow conspirators, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt, plotted to kidnap President Abraham Lincoln to aid the Confederacy. As the Confederacy's fortunes faltered, they decided to assassinate Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward to revive the Confederate cause. Booth assigned Powell and Herold to kill Seward, Atzerodt to kill Johnson, and reserved the president for himself. Powell attacked and severely wounded Seward, Atzerodt got drunk and failed to target Johnson, and Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. After a twelve-day search, authorities found and surrounded Booth and Herold in a tobacco barn on the farm of Richard Henry Garrett. Herold surrendered, but Booth refused, and the pursuers set the barn on fire. Sergeant Boston Corbett mortally wounded Booth in the burning barn, and he died a few hours later. By the end of April, authorities captured Powell and Atzerodt. They also arrested Mary Surratt, the owner of a boarding house where the conspirators met; Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set Booth's leg while he was fleeing through the countryside; Confederate veteran Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Laughlen, who were involved in the kidnapping plot; and Ford's Theatre stagehand Edman Spangler, who had a passing acquaintance with Booth. Authorities were unable to capture John Surratt, who fled to Canada and then Europe. A tribunal of military officers tried the eight conspirators between May 9 and June 30. They found all eight guilty of various crimes related to the assassination conspiracy, and sentenced four—Powell, Herold, Atzerodt, and Surratt—to death. They sentenced Mudd, Arnold, and O'Laughlen to life in prison and Spangler to six years in prison. They were imprisoned in Fort Jefferson at Dry Tortugas off Key West, Florida. O'Laughlen died of yellow fever there, and President Andrew Johnson pardoned Mudd, Arnold, and Spangler on March 1, 1869. After the last rites and shortly after 1:30 p.m., on July 7, 1865, the four conspirators condemned to death stood on the drop for about ten seconds, and then Captain Christian Rath clapped his hands. Four soldiers knocked out the supports holding the drops in place, and the condemned fell. Within minutes, they were all dead. The bodies continued to hang and swing for another twenty-five minutes before they were cut down. The bodies were buried in shallow graves in the prison yard. In February 1869, President Andrew Johnson allowed relatives to claim the remains of Surratt, Herold, and Atzerodt. No one claimed the body of Lewis Powell. Philp & Solomons (1859-1874) was a publishing and bookstore partnership in Washington, D.C., of bookseller Franklin Philp (1826-1887), who handled visual materials, and Adolphus S. Solomons (1826-1910), who had responsibility for the textual materials. Solomons helped to establish the American Red Cross and was the founder of the Jewish Protectory and Aid Society and the Russian Jews Immigration Aid Society. Philp was born in England and entertained visiting English celebrities at his home in Washington. According to one report, Philp overdrew the partnership account by $90,000 and left Solomons greatly embarrassed. Philp later became notorious for embezzling funds from his position as a clerk to the naval pay inspector at San Francisco, California. Alexander Gardner (1821-1882) was born in Scotland and was apprenticed to a jeweler. He raised money to begin a socialist cooperative in Iowa, but never lived there. He became owner and editor of the Glasgow Sentinel in 1851. His interest in photography began when he saw images by Mathew Brady at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1856 and began working with Brady as a photographer. In 1858, Brady placed Gardner in charge of his gallery in Washington, D.C. He made many portrait photographs in the first year of the Civil War, including several of President Abraham Lincoln. He served as a staff photographer under General George B. McClellan until McClellan's dismissal late in 1862. He later followed General Ambrose E. Burnside and General Joseph Hooker and photographed several Civil War battles. He and his brother opened their own studio in Washington, D.C., in May 1863. In 1866, he published the two-volume Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the Civil War with one hundred hand-mounted original prints, but the book did not sell well. He also documented Lincoln's funeral and the assassination of the Lincoln conspirators. He also photographed Native American leaders who came to Washington, but gave up photography after 1871 and founded an insurance company. This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses. WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.