UPDATE: From James L. Swanson: This 'Our American Cousin' playbill, which I have examined in person, matches an authentic example in my own collection and is one of the most important and evocative relics of the Lincoln assassination in existence. It is far rarer than any of the coveted broadsides offering a $100,000.00 reward for John Wilkes Booth and his conspirators." (additional new information below).
Historic and exceedingly rare first printing, first state of the original playbill for Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. on "Friday Evening, April 14th, 1865," the infamous performance during which President Abraham Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth. Printed by Henry Polkinhorn on the morning of April 14th, this is the first version of the playbill for that day's staging of Our American Cousin. On learning that President Lincoln and his party would be in attendance, the program was modified to include a 'Patriotic Song and Chorus: 'Honor to Our Soldiers,'' written by the theater's orchestra director William Withers, which was originally scheduled to debut the next night. Stage manager John B. Wright went to Polkinhorn's to have him amend the playbill to reflect the change, creating a second variant. Both playbill versions were used in the advertisement and promotion of the show.
The playbill measures approximately 5.75 x 18.75, and complies with all points of issue for the first printing, including: the printer's credit ("H. Polkinhorn & Son, Printers, D street, near 7th, Washington, D.C."); condition of the last "E" in Laura Keene's name; the ornate typeface used for "The Octoroon"; and other unique alignments, defects, and misprints in the type. These qualities, amongst others, are thoroughly documented in an accompanying nine-page report prepared by Lincoln assassination expert Dave Taylor, who concludes: 'It is my opinion that the playbill is a genuine playbill from the night of April 14, 1865. As such it is a rare and unique piece of American history.'
The edge of the playbill has been annotated in pencil, "Genuine bill—J. H. Brown," and it includes a separate handwritten provenance note in pencil: "I purchased this Bill from the Estate of John B. Wright who was Stage Manager—J. H. Brown." Both have been mounted on cardboard and matted together to an overall size of 11 x 27. In very good to fine condition, with uniform toning, a few surface abrasions, minor areas of discoloration, a smoothed horizontal crease, and a tear to the corner of the separate handwritten note.
Per Taylor's research, James Hutchinson Brown (1827–1897), was a Massachusetts theatrical collector; in 1898, C. F. Libbie and Co. sold off Brown’s extensive collection of dramatic books, autographs, and playbills over the course of three different auctions. Interestingly, Brown's large archive of Ford's Theatre ephemera, including both variants of the April 14th Our American Cousin playbill, was purchased by Evert Jansen Wendell and subsequently bequeathed to Harvard University. Those playbills, which still reside in Harvard's Houghton Library, served as a reference for Walter C. Brenner's 1937 authoritative monograph, 'The Ford Theatre Lincoln Assassination Playbills: A Study,' which was consulted in the authentication of the present example.
In 1919, C. F. Libbie and Co. auctioned off over 500 lots from a 'Lincoln Collection formed by Frederick S. Lang, Boston,' a sale that included 'one of the original play bills purchased from the Estate of John B. Wright, who was stage manager, by J. H. Brown'; an original copy of the auction catalogue accompanies this lot. This Lincoln assassination playbill originates from the collection of Frederick S. Lang's great-grandson; it seems that the lot was passed in the 1919 auction, or it may have been one of multiple playbills owned by Lang. In any case, these two C. F. Libbie auctions document James H. Brown's possession of original, authentic Our American Cousin playbills, acquired from the collection of stage manager John B. Wright, well over a century ago. That an authentic example has descended through Lang's family to the present day is remarkable yet unsurprising, given the breadth and depth of his collection of Lincolniana.
The scene at Ford's Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865, has been well documented through newspaper reports, eyewitness accounts, and countless tellings and re-tellings of the tragedy. During the third act of Our American Cousin, John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and Confederate sympathizer, entered the president's box from the rear, fired a bullet into the back of his head, and vaulted over the railing onto the stage. Brandishing a dagger overhead, Booth reportedly borrowed from Brutus and shouted 'sic semper tyrannis'—'thus always to tyrants'—before making his escape. Actress Laura Keene, whose company was putting on the play, rushed to the presidential box where Lincoln lay dying and cradled the mortally wounded president's head in her lap. President Lincoln was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he succumbed to his injuries the following morning, marking a tragic end to his leadership during the Civil War.
In the aftermath of Lincoln's assassination, mourners and collectors clamored for anything associated with that fateful day. To capitalize on this newfound demand, several contemporary reprints of the Ford's Theatre playbill for Our American Cousin were created, easily distinguished from the originals by differences in the type and content; even these are uncommon and highly collectible today. Authentic playbills, however, are extremely scarce and highly sought after: research indicates that the last first-issue Our American Cousin playbill to appear at auction was at Christie's in 2003, over two decades ago. A superlative piece as a silent witness to one of the United States' greatest tragedies.
From James L. Swanson: "On the morning of April 14, 1865, Mary Lincoln notified Ford’s Theatre that she and the president would attend that evening’s performance of Our American Cousin. A few blocks away, on D Street near Seventh, H. Polkinhorn & Son printed a playbill to hand out on the street that day to drum up ticket sales. But that night’s tragedy invested this commonplace piece of theatrical ephemera meant to be forgotten with unparalleled significance: it captures the snapshot of the ‘before.’ The playbill conjures the opening scenes from one of Lincoln’s happiest nights – the carriage arriving on Tenth Street, the jubilant cheers of the packed house, the music of ‘Hail to the Chief,’ laughter and hissing gaslights. But the playbill also resonates with eerie foreboding, symbolizing not only the tragedy of Lincoln’s death, but also the death of Ford’s Theatre, which would go dark for more than a century. Abraham Lincoln loved the theatre, and the playbill reminds us that Ford’s is not just a place of death, but also of life. The living Lincoln laughed there too.
This 'Our American Cousin' playbill, which I have examined in person, matches an authentic example in my own collection and is one of the most important and evocative relics of the Lincoln assassination in existence. It is far rarer than any of the coveted broadsides offering a $100,000.00 reward for John Wilkes Booth and his conspirators."
James L. Swanson is the author of the Edgar Award-winning, New York Times bestseller Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer and an executive producer of the 2024 Manhunt Apple TV series. His latest book is The Deerfield Massacre.
