Oct 15, 2007 - Sale 2124

Sale 2124 - Lot 41

Price Realized: $ 9,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 9,000 - $ 12,000
(GARDNER, ALEXANDER)
Suite of 6 photographs depicting the Lincoln Conspirators, comprising Lewis Payne (née Powell), Edmund [sic] Spangler, Michael O'Loughlin, George A. Azteratt [sic], Samuel Arnold, by Gardner, and a portrait of John H. Surratt in a Zouave uniform by Brady. Albumen prints, 8 1/2x4 1/4 inches (21.5x10.8 cm), and slightly smaller, each with a handwritten notation identifying the subject on mount recto and 2 with the Century Co. label, with handwritten notations, on mount verso. 1865-67
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Additional Details

A compelling suite of photographs depicting the men responsible for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, a tragedy masterminded by the popular actor and political zealot, John Wilkes Booth. Alexander Gardner, who had worked for the Secret Service and garnered praise for his Civil War photographs, was called upon to create the photographs of the conspirators.


After learning that Lincoln would attend Ford's Theatre, Booth set into motion a plan to murder the president and select cabinet members. His compatriots were given different assignments: Paine was to murder Secretary of State William Seward at his home, a job he attempted unsuccessfully. Edman Spangler had been instructed by Booth to hold the getaway horse, but had passed that task on to an associate. George Atzerodt failed in his assignment to assassinate President Johnson. Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Loughlin, childhood friends of Booth, had initially agreed to participate in a plot to kidnap Lincoln and hold him for ransom in exchange for Confederate prisoners. Subsequently, both refused to participate when they learned that Booth intended to murder Lincoln. Indeed, after hearing of the assassination O'Loughlin turned himself in.

Lastly, John Surratt was the timekeeper who coordinated the assassination of the president outside the theatre. He escaped, crossed the Atlantic, settling first in England, then later in Rome, where he joined the Papal Zouaves. While visiting Alexandria, Egypt, in late 1866, Surratt was identified as the wanted Lincoln assassination conspirator and arrested and repatriated to the states to stand trial.