H istorical d ocument

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Profiles in History
   
Historical Document Auction 63
28. Booth, John Wilkes. Printed pamphlet signed (“John W.  Booth”), being his personal copy of the play Lend Me Five Shillings, by 
John Maddison Morton, Esq., New York: William Taylor n.d. [c.1855-1858?]. 32 pp, (4.5 x 7.5 in.; 114 x 190 mm.). Original publisher’s 
printed orange wrappers, back cover very slightly torn, light dampstain to upper portions of text. Booth has signed in ink at the upper 
portion, “John W. Booth Arch St., June 1858.”
John Wilkes Booth’s signed personal copy of the play Lend Me Five Shillings.
At age 18, Booth made his debut on stage in 1855. Growing in popularity, in 1858 he performed in 83 plays. Among them were William 
Wallace and Brutus, having as their theme the killing or overthrow of an unjust ruler. Booth said that of all Shakespearean characters, 
his favorite role was Brutus – the slayer of a tyrant. Also included is a Handsome Carte-de-Visite, with secretarial signature originally 
placed on the CDV for identification purposes. The CDV measures 2.25 x 4 in. (57 x 102 mm.). This un-attributed studio portrayal, 
the most famous image of Booth ever taken, shows the dashing actor clad in formal theater attire, with walking cane in his right hand. 
$8,000 - $12,000

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29. Booth, John Wilkes. Rare autograph letter signed (“J. Wilkes  Booth”), 2 pages (5.1 x 7.9 in.; 130 x 200 mm.), New York,  18 October 
[1863], to John Adam Ellsler, Booth’s actor friend and owner of the Acadamy of Music in Cleveland, Ohio.  Archival reinforcement on 
left margin; single spot present near to top edge; otherwise, fine.
John Wilkes Booth, one of the most famous actors in the U.S., plans his next stage appearances in a rare handwritten 
letter dating from the Civil War.
Booth writes in full: Dear John Have not heard from you of late. Nov. 23d and 30th is the only time I have for Cleveland. I asked for Feb 1st and 
8th in Columbus. I can still give you that time I guess but let me hear from you at once as I must answer Evansville. If you can not arrange that time 
for Columbus I may be able to give you Feb 29th and March 7th for Columbus, but you must answer at once by telegraph. I play tomorrow Monday 
the 19th here in Providence - the next night in Hartford. Yours truly, J. Wilkes Booth
In the letter’s body, Booth makes plans for the Theater season of 1863-64. February 29th of the next year is mentioned, conclusively 
dating the letter to October of 1863, as 1864 was a leap year. Booth’s signature is considered to be one of rarest of all American 
autographs. His handwritten letters are even more scarce, as the nation-wide manhunt after Lincoln’s assassination prompted many of 
those who possessed his papers to destroy them, fearful that they would be implicated in the conspiracy. This is one of the few surviving 
handwritten letters, and it wonderfully illustrates his capacity for making long-range plans – a personal trait that would serve him well 
just 18 months later as his plan to assassinate Lincoln came to fruition. 
A member of the famous Booth family of actors, John Wilkes Booth, the son of Junius Brutus Booth (1796-1852), is best remembered 
as the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, during a performance of “Our American Cousin” at Washington’s Ford Theatre on the 
evening of 14 April 1865. While the President was enjoying the play with his wife, Booth, with a derringer pistol in his right hand, and a 
dagger in his left, opened the unguarded door of the presidential box and aimed his pistol at Lincoln’s head. Leaping to the stage to make 
his escape after fatally shooting the President and slashing Major Henry Rathbone (there with his fiancee Clara Harris), Booth broke his 
left shin as he cried out “Sic semper tyrannis!” At 7:22 AM on 15 April 1865, Lincoln finally died. Booth was the organizer of a group of 
conspirators (Lewis Paine, George A. Atzerodt, and David Herold - sheltered by Mary E. Surratt) in a plot to kill not only the President 
and his Vice-President, but also the other prominent members of the cabinet. On April 26th, Union cavalry trapped Booth in a Virginia 
tobacco barn. His accomplice David Herold surrendered. Booth would not, preferring death to surrender. The orders were to take him 
alive. The barn was set on fire to force him out. A shot was heard, and, when the barn door was opened, Booth was found face down with 
a revolver in his hand. He was shot below the right ear, the ball passing out his neck on the other side. Booth was dragged to the porch 
of a nearby farmhouse, where he whispered “Tell Mother that I died for my country...I did what I thought was best” before he died. 
Published in The Writings of John Wilkes Booth (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997), p. 92.
$12,000 - $15,000

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Profiles in History
   
Historical Document Auction 63
30. Buchanan, James. Remarkable political autograph letter signed (“James Buchanan”), 2 pages (7.75 x 10 in.; 197 x 254 mm.), with 
integral leaf docketed on verso. Wheatland, near Lancaster, 28 April 1852. Marked Private to David Lynch (Mayor of Pittsburgh). Lightly 
dampstained. In a light blue, three flap, presentation folder, “James Buchanan – A.L.S. – April 28, 1852” gilt lettered on spine “Fine 
condition. 
Seven weeks before the Whigs nominate Gen. Winfield Scott for President, Buchanan writes, “Scott, in order to secure all 
the free soil votes of the non-slaveholding States, will refrain from signing a pledge to sustain the Fugitive Slave Law; but yet he will give 
assurances to his Southern friends that he will faithfully execute this law & there will be proclaimed every where in the South…” About 
Stephen A. Douglas, he writes, “He possesses fine talents, a strong character & decided energy; & although I cannot approve all his 
conduct or that of some of his friends, he is not liable to so many objections as his western competitor [Lewis Cass]. With a few years good 
training, he would make an excellent President…”
During the winter of 1851, while his niece Harriet Lane made a visit of several months to friends in Pittsburgh, Buchanan relied upon 
her to confirm the support for his potential presidential candidacy in 1852 from Pittsburgh Mayor David Lynch, the state’s western region 
political boss. She succeeded in aligning Lynch’s political commitment to her uncle.
Buchanan writes in full: I have received your favor of the 24th Inst: I should have written to you ‘ere this; but had supposed from your letter of the 
6th Instant that you had left for home. I am much gratified that my old friend Ovid F. Johnston, supports me for the Presidency. He possesses fine talents 
& great energy of character & wields a powerful pen. He was estranged from me for several years; & I hail his voluntary return with peculiar satisfaction. 
Please to present me to him my kind regards. Your review of some matters relating to General [Lewis] Cass contains nothing but facts; & yet should it ever 
be traced to you from our known friendship & intimacy it will be employed by the his friends to injure me. For this reason I am inclined rather to doubt 
the policy of the publication. Neither Cass nor his leading friends in Pennsylvania deserve any forbearance at our hands; but he has friends in other States, 
who, I know, are strongly inclined in my favor, & we ought not to pursue any course which would drive them from their purpose. I am not sure but I judge 
incorrectly relative to the policy of the publication. I am glad that ‘the friends of [Stephen A.] Douglas are now talking in the right way.’ Had I the choice 
to make between the two, I would prefer him to Cass. He possesses fine talents, a strong character & decided energy; & although I cannot approve all his 
conduct or that of some of his friends, he is not liable to so many objections as his western competitor. With a few years good training, he would make an 
excellent President. Why does [Clerk of the House Pennsylvanian John W.] Forney suspect [former Pennsylvania Gov. David R.] Porter’s fidelity? I do 
not doubt him in the least. On the contrary I confidently expect much from his support. Indeed, I owe him my grateful thanks for what he has already 
done. But Forney is a noble fellow. It would be vain for me to write you my speculations on the result of the Baltimore Convention. This I can say, 
however, that from all the information I receive from different quarters, the prospect appears very fair. Should I be nominated, I do not entertain a doubt 
that we shall carry Pennsylvania by an old fashioned Jackson Democratic Majority. The Whigs are exceedingly anxious for the nomination of General 
Cass. They expect that this event would re-unite their party. But whether or not, I anticipate that their leaders will all be yet together. [Gen. Winfield] 
Scott, in order to secure all the free soil votes of the non-slaveholding States, will refrain from signing a pledge to sustain the Fugitive Slave Law; but yet 
he will give assurances to his Southern friends that he will faithfully execute this law & there will be proclaimed every where in the South on the slump. 
Indeed they will assert that Scott used his personal exertions in favor of its passage; whilst Cass & his immediate friends in the Senate dodged the vote. 
From your friend, very faithfully, James Buchanan
At the Democratic National Convention held at Maryland Institute Hall in Baltimore, June 1-5, 1852, on the first ballot for the 
presidential nomination, Lewis Cass received 116 votes while Buchanan received 93. William L. Marcy had 27, Stephen A. Douglas 20, 
and Joseph Lane 13. Five others, including Sam Houston, received a total of 18 votes. Franklin Pierce, who was finally nominated on the 
49th ballot with 282 of the 289 ballots cast, received no votes on the first ballot.
Gen. Winfield Scott was nominated by the Whigs on the 53rd ballot at their June 17-20, 1852 convention also held at Maryland 
Institute Hall, and was soundly defeated in November by Pierce, 296-42 electoral votes, winning just four states, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
Massachusetts,  and Vermont.
Four years later, Pierce became the only U.S. President to be denied renomination at his own party’s convention, when Buchanan 
was unanimously nominated on the 17th ballot. On the first ballot, Buchanan had 135.5 votes, Pierce 122.5, Douglas 33, and Cass 5 
votes. After their defeat in 1852, the Whigs lost their power nationally. Most of the southern Whigs joined the Democrats and most of 
the antislavery northern Whigs eventually joined the new Republican Party which nominated Gen. John C. Fremont for President. 
Buchanan won 19 states, including all southern states, and defeated Fremont 174-114 (11 states) electoral votes with Maryland’s 4 votes 
going to former President Millard Fillmore, nominee of the American (Know-Nothing) Party. $4,000 - $6,000

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