Description:

A piece of wood from Abraham Lincoln's Springfield home with presentation photograph given to Mussolini's Ambassador to the United States in 1923, fully documented

A 1" x 3.25" sliver of wood recovered from Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois, attached to the front endpaper of a pamphlet, Edward S. Johnson, ed., Abraham Lincoln And His Last Resting Place (Quincy, Illinois: Royal Printing Company for the State of Illinois, n.y.) 29pp., 8vo., bound in brown titled wraps and staple bound. With an inscription in the hand of longtime Lincoln Tomb custodian Herbert Wells Fay (1859-1949) who inscribes the pamphlet on the same blank endpaper bearing the relic: "To Prince Gelasio Caetoni at Lincoln' Tomb March 9, 1923 accompanies a apiece of wood from Lincoln's Springfield home H W Fay custodian- " Some mild toning from wood relic which has also caused a minor tear in the front wrap, front flyleaf folded at bottom right corner, else fine condition. Offered together with a 3.5" x 5" black and white photograph of Lincoln, c. 1861, portrait attributed to Christophe S. German and inscribed by Fay on the verso: "To Prince Caetani at Lincolns tomb March 19th 1923 H W Fay custodian owner of original negative." News clipping affixed to the top of the verso, light marginal wear at top and bottom, else fine.

Don Gelasio del Principe di Caetani (1877-1934) was an Italian mining engineer, a diplomat, and an officer in the First World War. A member of the noble Caetani family which counted Popes Gelasius II (1060/64-1119) and Boniface VIII (c. 1230-1303) among its progeny. Following his service in the First World War, he joined Mussolini's Fascists and became Italian Ambassador to the United States in 1922.

Herbert Wells Fay worked as editor for the DeKalb Review before taking on the position of custodian of the Lincoln Tomb in Springfield, Illinois in 1921. The job was well-suited to this longtime avid collector of Lincolniana who possessed 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. One of the highlights of Fay's collection was an original glass negative of a January 1861 portrait attributed to Christopher S. German, from which he made numerous reproductions in a variety of formats.

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January 28, 2016 10:30 AM EST
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