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Lot #344
Lincoln Assassination: John Wilkes Booth

"We got the news last evening of the capture and death of Booth, poor fool!"

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Estimate: $500+
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Description

"We got the news last evening of the capture and death of Booth, poor fool!"

ALS, four pages on two adjoining sheets, 5 x 8, Nassau Hall letterhead, April 28, 1865. Handwritten letter by Princeton student Lewis T. Stevens to his sister Annie, regarding the capture and death of Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, in part: "We got the news last evening of the capture and death of Booth, poor fool! He died as he lived and his end was in keeping with the act that ruined him. Murder will out. I was in hopes that they would have caught him alive. But perhaps it is better as it is; a long trial and ultimate execution might have better satisfied one feelings of vengeance; but he has got his desserts and let him be forgotten. I was sorry that father did not succeed in seeing the body of the President; several of my friends here saw it, but I do not think that the moments glance that they obtained gave them must satisfaction." In fine condition.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Fine Autograph and Artifacts, Ft. Prince
  • Dates: #627 - Ended January 12, 2022