The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (Presentation Copy)

Washington DC: Osborn H. Oldroyd, 1901. First edition. Very Good. Number 68 of 250 copies signed by the author, the present with an additional presentation inscription to the front endpaper: "The compliments of the Author. 25 Dec. 1901." Original publisher's cloth binding with gilt to spine and front board. Top edge gilt. Black endpapers. A somewhat worn copy, with staining and rubbing to the boards; some staining and paper loss to lower margins of rear blanks. Complete with 2 illustrated plates of the author to the front and folding map at rear.

"Osborn H. Oldroyd (1842-1930) was a Civil War sergeant, writer, and collector of Lincoln memorabilia. He enlisted in the 20th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861 and at the age of 19 joined the Union Army at Camp Chase, Ohio...During his time in the Grand Army of the Republic, Oldroyd kept a journal of military events and personal recollections, publishing portions in 1885 under the title A Soldier's Story of the Siege of Vicksburg" (University of Chicago). Following the assassination of Lincoln, Oldroyd and his wife moved to Springfield, Illinois where he rented Lincoln's former home and transformed it into a memorial museum using Oldroyd's own extensive Lincoln collection. "He sold the 3,000 piece collection to the U.S. Government for $50,000 in 1925" (roughly $830,000 today) and it was rehoused as an exhibit at Ford's Theater (University of Chicago). Very Good.