Reward Offered for the Apprehension of Lincoln's Murderer !

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

On the evening of 14 April 1865, Abraham Lincoln is in a theater in Washington. John Wilkes Booth enters his box and discharges a pistol in his head. The President died the next morning. Booth's intention was to "avenge the South", which had just lost the Civil War.

The assassin and his accomplices are at large, but their names are known. Posters offering rewards for their arrest were issued. The award is initially set at $ 30,000 and then 40,000.

On April 20, War Secretary Edwin M. Stanton is irritated. A new poster is published, in thick and powerful letters, a no fancy typography. The reward, in huge figures, amounts to $ 100,000, i.e. 50,000 for Booth and 25,000 for each of his two thieves.

To recognize Booth, look for a man 5 feet 7 inches, slender, high forehead, black hair, black eyes, with a heavy mustache. I do not know if this description was helpful, but indeed Booth was shot a few days later.

An original copy of this poster, printed on thick cardboard and in excellent condition, is to sell by Early American on February 14. This auction house operating in California is using LiveAuctioneers, by whom I found this information.

It is amazing to note that the estimate, $ 100 K, is at the same price as the reward offered nearly a century and a half ago by the War Department.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The results just came on the site of the auction house. This lot was unsold.