Description:

Stables "where Booth hired his horse," Frederick Meserve Collected Photograph

A photograph showing John C. Howard's Livery & Sale Stables in Washington, D.C., where alleged presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth hired his getaway horse on April 14, 1865. Printed ca. 1910, and from original negatives the collectio of world-renowned Lincoln collector Frederick H. Meserve (1865-1962). The photo is housed in a stock paper holder inscribed in Meserve's hand at left as: "Where Booth / hired his horse." The photo is hand-stamped "Collection / Of / Americana / Frederick H. Meserve / 265 Edgecombe Avenue / New York City" verso. Expected surface wear to the photo including isolated minor wrinkles. The photo measures 3.25" x 2.125" while the slotted and annotated photo holder measures 2.625" x 3.375" overall.

The photograph of the notorious livery stable was originally taken by Alexander Gardner (1821-1882), who was hired by the federal government to document assassination-related sites, as well as the imprisonment and execution of the alleged conspirators. It is possible that Meserve printed this photograph from original negatives since the photo shows a satisfying level of sharp detail.

John C. Howard's Livery & Sale Stables were located at G Street and 6th/7th Streets, several blocks northeast of Ford's Theatre. John H. Surratt, whose mother was later hanged for her involvement in the conspiracy, boarded his horses here, and it was here that Booth hired the horse he would ride south on his escape. On April 14, 1865, Booth had asked Edmund "Ned" Spangler, a Ford's Theatre stagehand and carpenter, to watch his horse. Spangler later entrusted the horse with Joseph "John Peanuts" Burroughs, the theatre doorman and odd-job man. In his April 24, 1865 deposition, Burroughs described Booth's flight from Ford's Theatre: "I was holding the horse in my hands. Mr. Booth came to the door, opened it and rush out. The door was shut. He came up to the horse and put one foot in the stirrup and struck me with the butt of his dagger and knocked me down…As he came out of the door he said 'Boy, give me my horse' pretty loud…He rode off down the alley…" For "aiding and abetting" Booth by holding his horse, Edmund Spangler was sentenced to six years' hard labor. He was pardoned in 1869.

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.

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