Section of wood recovered from Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois, .5″ x 3″, affixed to the inside of a folded stationery sheet, which bears a fountain pen signature and inscription in the hand of Herbert Wells Fay, the longtime custodian of the Lincoln Tomb: "To Inez R. de Lhorbe, at Lincoln's Tomb, Aug., 26, 1930, accompanying a piece of wood from Lincoln's Springfield home, H. W. Fay.” Adjacent page bears an affixed oak leaf, with Fay writing below: “Oak leaf from tree at Lincoln’s Tomb.” The stationery sheet is attached to the first free end page of a leaflet entitled "Abraham Lincoln and His Last Resting Place," printed at the State Journal Co. in Springfield, Illinois. In fine condition. Accompanied by a card from "The Lincoln Association of Jersey City, N.J.," featuring engravings by Carpenter and Schlecht. Fay worked as an editor for the DeKalb Review before serving as custodian of the Lincoln Tomb in Springfield, Illinois in 1921. An avid collector of Lincolniana, Fay owned 90 different portraits of Abraham Lincoln as part of his enormous collection—all of which he housed in a utility room within the Springfield Tomb.
