Description:

Lincoln Conspirator Execution Photo, "The Drop," Frederick Meserve Collected & Inscribed

A photograph depicting the aftermath of the execution of four Lincoln et al. conspirators, printed ca. 1910, from the personal collection of negatives of world-renowned Lincoln collector Frederick H. Meserve (1865-1962). The photo is housed in construction paper wrappers and inscribed in Meserve's hand as: "The Drop." The sepia-colored is hand-stamped "Collection / Of / Americana / Frederick H. Meserve / 265 Edgecombe Avenue / New York City" verso. Expected wear including isolated gentle wrinkles, and slight curling, else near fine and quite crisp. The actual size of the photo is 7" x 5.625." The slotted inner wrapper and the annotated double-hole punched outer wrappers, show expected wear and measure 9.125" x 13."

The photograph of "The Drop" was originally taken by Alexander Gardner (1821-1882), who was hired by the federal government to document the imprisonment and execution of the alleged conspirators. We do not know whether Meserve printed these photographs from original negatives, however, the level of detail and sharpness may indicate that that is the case.

A 9-person Military Tribunal had been commissioned to fully investigate the conspiracy to assassinate 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of State William H. Seward, and General Ulysses S. Grant on April 14, 1865. Eight individuals were arrested and eventually tried. The Lincoln conspiracy trial took place over a seven-week-long period, from May 9 through June 28, 1865. Verdicts and sentencing were announced on June 30th, and on July 5th, 17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson authorized the execution of four of the eight defendants, Mary Surratt, David Herold, George Atzerodt, and Lewis Powell (sometimes called Lewis Payne).

On July 7, 1865 at 1:15 pm, Surratt, Herold, Atzerodt, and Powell were led out in front of a crowd of about 1,000 spectators, mostly members of the military, at Washington's Old Arsenal Penitentiary, today Fort Lesley McNair. The two-tiered gallows was erected in the southern courtyard of the prison. The scaffold measured 20" x 20" with the execution platform elevated 12' from the ground. The defendants were read their death warrants by General John F. Hartranft, the provost marshal officiating at the execution. During the next moments, the convicted prisoners were bound, hooded, and positioned over the drops.

Captain Christian Rath (1831-1920), the executioner, was tasked with making the nooses, giving the signal to drop the scaffold trapdoors, and taking down and arranging the bodies in coffins. He later summarized his orders: "I saw the gallows built and secured the rope, which was a three-ply Boston hemp, from the Navy Yard. I made the nooses and placed them on the beam, saw them adjusted on the victims, then stepped aside and gave the signal to the men underneath the gallows to spring the traps..."

Dr. George Loring Porter (1838-1919), the Surgeon-in-Charge who confirmed that the four prisoners were dead, stated: "The two drops fell with a slam, the four bodies dropped like a single thing." Pre-execution testing of drops and nooses was conducted in the hours before the execution, but Surratt's noose was not tied with the regulation number of knots. A postmortem medical examination revealed that none of the prisoners died of broken necks, and at least two of the prisoners died after minutes of struggling. The bodies remained suspended for about 30 minutes before they were cut down.

Frederick H. Meserve was a preeminent collector of Lincoln and Civil War-era photography, ephemera, maps, and books. He began collecting Lincolniana in 1897, with the intention of illustrating his father's Civil War diary. In the early 1900s, Meserve acquired 10,000 original Brady negatives including seven Lincoln portraits. Meserve continued collecting Lincoln likenesses, as well as photos of Lincoln's contemporaries, over the next sixty years. He eventually amassed a collection of 200,000 pieces including some previously "lost" or unknown images of Lincoln. Meserve's collection was so esteemed for its completeness that he essentially became the custodian of "Lincoln's image." Meserve was approached by medal and currency engravers, as well as by the sculptors of Lincoln's Memorial Monument, for direct access to his presidential photographs. In 2015, the Meserve-Kunhardt Collection was acquired by the Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (New Haven, Connecticut.)

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!

Accepted Forms of Payment:

American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Paypal, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

Unless otherwise indicated, we do our own in-house worldwide shipping!

Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. We offer several shipping options, and remain one of the few auction houses who proudly provides professional in-house shipping as an option to our clients. All items will ship with signature required, and full insurance. Most items are sent via Federal Express, with P. O. Box addresses being sent through USPS. We insure through Berkley Asset Protection with rates of $.70 per $100 of value, among the lowest insurance rates in the industry. Our shipping department cameras document every package, both outgoing and incoming, for maximum security. In addition, we compare our shipping and handling rates against those of other auction houses, to ensure that our charges are among the lowest in the trade.

Upon winning your item(s), you will receive an invoice with our in-house shipping and handling fees included. ***We will ship to the address as it appears on your invoice. If any changes to the shipping address need to be made, you must inform us immediately.***

International shipments: In order to comply with our insurance provider, all international shipments will be sent via Fed Ex and customs paperwork will show a value of $1.00. International buyers should contact our office directly with any questions regarding this policy.

Third Party Shipping Option: If a third party shipper is preferred, the buyer is responsible for contacting them directly to make shipping arrangements. For your convenience, we have provided some recommended shippers. For your protection, we will require a signed release from you, confirming your authorization for us to release your lots to your specified third party Please copy and paste this following link into your browser: http://universityarchives.com/UserFiles/ShippingInfo.pdf. At that point, our responsibility and insurance coverage for your item(s) ceases. Items picked up by third party shippers are required to pay Connecticut sales tax. Items requiring third party shipping due to being oversized, fragile or bulky will be denoted in the item description.

Please see our full terms and conditions for names of suggested third party shippers.

After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 10 business days following receipt of full payment for item.

Please remember that the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs from University Archives' offices in Wilton, CT to the buyer's door. Please see full Terms and Conditions of Sale.

February 1, 2023 11:00 AM EST
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 25% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000