University Archives' online-only auction, April 23rd, will feature over 60 lots dedicated to Lincoln

WILTON, Conn. - April 4, 2025 - PRLog -- A vivid and lifelike photograph of Abraham Lincoln with Hesler/Ayres provenance, a one-page letter signed by Lincoln in 1859 and addressed to a man he'd defended in a murder trial, and a one-page autograph letter written in Hebrew in 1948 by the first Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion are three of many tantalizing items in University Archives' next online-only auction slated for Wednesday, April 23^rd, at 10am Eastern time.

All 536 lots in the Rare Autographs, Books & Photos auction (featuring the Abraham Lincoln Collection) are up for viewing and bidding now on UniversityArchives.com, plus LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com and Auctionzip.com. Telephone and absentee bids will also be accepted.

The marquee item of the Abraham Lincoln Collection is lot 65, an interpositive (or silver gelatin positive transparency on glass), of Lincoln, from Lincoln scholar King Hostick through descent. Alexander Hesler's collodion negative of Lincoln, Portrait Sitting No. 2, was originally taken in Springfield, Illinois in 1860. The portrait is displayed in a custom-built presentation case (Estimate: $800,000-$1 million)

Lot 69 is the one-page autograph letter signed by Lincoln on November 3, 1859, addressed to Peachy Quinn Harrison, a young area man whom Lincoln had defended just four months earlier in what was Lincoln's one and only murder trial. In it, Lincoln urges Peachy to exercise his political rights by supporting Republican candidate John Palmer (Estimate: $70,000-$100,000)

Lot 418 is the one-page autograph letter in Hebrew signed by David Ben-Gurion on May 14, 1948, just one day after signing the Israeli Declaration of Independence and two days before being elected the first Prime Minister of Israel. Ben-Gurion's participation in recent events inspired his comments to a childhood friend, in part: "The Jewish people have attained…the very essence of their existence; the State of Israel is born" (Estimate: $80,000-$100,000)

Lot 503 is a three-page scientific manuscript in German handwritten by Albert Einstein, relating to his Unified Field Theory from the 1940s. The manuscript contains about 446 words in German and 17 lines of scientific calculations in Einstein's hand, stating in part (translated): "… I want to try to show that a truly natural choice for field equations exists" (Estimate: $80,000-$120,000)

Here is a link to the catalog on the University Archives website:

https://www.universityarchives.com/auction-catalog/rare-autographs-books-photos-abraham-lincoln-coll_DU5FC9TF63