Scholar's Abraham Lincoln collection fetches US$300K at auction
Lori Page and gallery owner Bill Rau of M.S. Rau Antiques prepare to remove the glass dome from a pedestal holding a set of small binoculars, or opera glasses, believed to have been held by President Abraham Lincoln on the night he was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in 1865, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill)
NEW YORK — The sale of a prominent Abraham Lincoln scholar’s collection of material pertaining to the nation’s 16th president brought in nearly $300,000 at a New York City auction.
Swann Galleries says nearly 90% of Harold Holzer’s collection of hundreds of Lincoln books, artwork and documents was sold at Thursday’s auction in Manhattan. The overall sale total of $299,995 topped the presale estimate of $158,000 to $236,000.
An 1860 painting of Lincoln before he grew a beard drew the highest price at $40,000.
Holzer is an award-winning historian best known for his books on Lincoln and the Civil War. He collected hundreds of Lincoln items during the decades he spent researching and writing about him.
Holzer currently serves as director of Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute.
