Emancipation Proclamation, 13th Amendment Sell for $4.17 Million.

May 26, 2016, ABC News   A telephone bidder bought one of the 48 "Authorized Edition" Emancipation Proclamation copies signed by Lincoln that sold at the Great Central Fair fundraiser for the United States Sanitation Commission that sold for $10 at the fair back in 1864.

The copy of the 13th Amendment sold for $2.4 million and is one of just 14 signed by Lincoln on February 1, 1865.  It is also one of three of the "Senate Copies."  These are also signed by the vice president and 36 senators.

The 13th Amendment was ratified in December 1865.

There are just 27 known copies of the original 48 existing.

The Emancipation Proclamation also led to liberated slaves being able to serve in the Union Army and Navy.

Not a Bad Investment and a Whole Lot of History.  --Old Secesh

Emancipation Proclamation Copy Signed By Lincoln At Auction-- Part 2

Continued from April 23, 2018.

This is one of the copies sold at the Great Central Fair in 1864 in Philadelphia.  The original Emancipation Proclamation is in the National Archives.  Several other of the Great Central Fair copies exist.

These copies are known as the "Authorized Edition" of the Emancipation Proclamation and are signed by Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward.  The authorized edition was as close to the original as it could get and made for use as a fundraising item.

Entrepreneurs Charles Leland and George Boker came up with the idea.  They had 498copies made for the Great Central Fair in Philadelphia in 1864.

--Old Secesh

Emancipation Proclamation Signed By Lincoln At Auction-- Part 3

Abraham Lincoln was a big supporter of the United States Sanitary Commission for whom the Great Central Fair was raising money and had previously donated a n autographed item.  Leland and Boker had corresponded with Lincoln's private secretary John Nicolay for an authorized version of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Both were fervent abolitionists.

The "Authorized Edition" of 48 copies also had Nicolay's signature.  The original only had Lincoln and Seward sign it.

Imagine Making $2 Million for a $10 Investment?  --Old Secesh

Emancipation Proclamation Copy Signed By Lincoln At Auction-- Part 1: Estimated Price, $2 Million

While writing about those 48 Lincoln signed copies of the Emancipation Proclamation that were sold at the Great central Fair in Philadelphia in June 1864, I got to wondering how many are still around and how much they would be worth.

What started off earlier this month as mention of Meade's spurs and Semmes' sword at the Rock Island Auctions, this has really grown into quite a project.

From the June 25, 2012, History Site  "Emancipation Proclamation Copy Signed By Lincoln For Sale" by Eliza Hanes.

On June 26, one lucky bidder can expect to pay around $2 million to own it.

I Don't have $2 Million Lying Around.  --Old Secesh

Logan Circle (Square) in Philadelphia

From Wikipedia.

Logan Circle is also known as Logan Square.  The circle aspect of it is entirely within the boundaries of the old square.  Logan Square is where the Great Central Fair was held in 1864, which I have been writing about.

It was originally known as Northwest Square in William Penn's 1684 plans for the city.  It was renamed in 1825 after Philadelphia's James Logan (1684-1751), the 14th mayor, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, lieutenant governor and acting governor.  He was an avid collector of books, eventually amassing 3,000 of them, which he described as "my disease."

During the American Revolution it was essentially a forest.  Over the next 25 years it served as a pasture, cemetery and execution ground.  In 1823, it was the site of the hanging of William Gross, the last person publicly executed in the city.

--Old Secesh

The Great Central Fair, 1864-- Part 4: 250,000 and $1.046,000

The Union League of Philadelphia proposed it.  Its Heritage Center has one of the 48 personally signed by Lincoln Emancipation Proclamations.  It was the Union league which arranged for the 48 signed copies to be sold at the fair.

A total of 250,000 visitors came and it was the second most profitable of all the Sanitary Commission fairs held.  The Sanitary Commission cleared $1,046,000 from it.

One reason so much money was made was because of all the volunteer help provided by the women of Philadelphia.

--Old Secesh

The Great Central Fair, 1864-- Part 3: Not the First Fair, Though

From the Hidden City Philadelphia site.

The official name was the Great Sanitary Fair.  It was also called the Great Central Fair.  Its object was to raise money to buy Union troops food, medical supplies, hospital ships and rest homes.  In effect, it served as a dress rehearsal for Philadelphia's Centennial Exposition of 1876.

It covered Logan Square (now called Logan Circle).  The main building of the fair extended the length of the square.  It was encompassed by smaller structures all of which were connected by corridors.

It was not, however, the first fair for the U.S. Sanitary Commission.  The first was held in Lowell, Massachusetts a year earlier.  It was a modest success and the idea spread to other cities.

--Old Secesh

The Great Central Fair, 1864-- Part 2: A Little Bit of Everything Inside

Union Street was compared to a great cathedral by Charles J. Stille.  Inside it were departments from which to select items to buy.  They each had different themes.  Some of them:  the  neighboring states of New Jersey and Delaware, corn, sewing, restaurants, weaponry, fine art, curiosities, transportation and children.

On June 16, Abraham Lincoln and his family visited and donated 48 copies of the Emancipation Proclamation that he had signed.  They fair was asking $10 for each one.

The fair netted some $1 million for the Union's military.

A painting of the fair accompanied the article and it was quite impressive.

--Old secesh

The Great Central Fair of Philadelphia, 1864-- Part 1: A huge Fundraiser for U.S. Sanitary Commission

From  Wikipedia.

The fair took place in June 1864 and was a fundraiser for the United States Sanitary Commission.

Logan Square (now often called Logan Circle) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the site from June 7-28.  It was inspired by numerous other fundraising fairs that took place across the Union.

The main exhibit was located in a 200,000 square foot hall.  There were numerous smaller structures also.  The whole thing was designed by Samuel Honeyman Kneass and William Strickland.    There was also a Union Street that stretched for 540 feet and ran through the middle of the fair.

--Old SeceshFair

About Gen. Meade's Spurs-- Part 3: Spurs and a Pistol

The Great Central Fair raised $1 million for the United States Sanitary Commission.

Many of General Meade's personal items have been donated or sold by family members in the 1990s, including the sword, uniforms, a cased and engraved Remington New-Model Revolver (now at the Autry Museum) and other artifacts.

I'll be writing about the pistol later this week as well.  The auction story has definitely branched out.

The spurs were in the estate of the late George Gordon Meade Easby (Meade's grandson) until a few years ago.

--Old SecSpur

About Gen. Meade's Spurs-- Part 2: The Great Central Fair and Abraham Lincoln

General George Meade and his wife were members of the Great Central Fair.  At the end of it, he was presented with a sword which is now at the Philadelphia History Museum.  The Great Central Fair was probably the greatest purely civic act of voluntary benevolence ever attempted in Philadelphia.

On June 16, President Lincoln and his son Todd attended the fair and he donated 48 copies of the Emancipation Proclamation which sold for $10 apiece.  What would an autographed copy of this signed by Lincoln himself be worth today?  Or imagine if instead he had autographed copies of his Gettysburg Address?

I will write more about these copies of the Emancipation Proclamation later this week.

--Old SeceshFair

About General Meade's Spurs-- Part 1: Presented By the Great Central Fair to the General

From the Rock island Auction Site.

Lot 1123--  Officer eagle Head Spurs Inscribed to Major General George Meade.

This has never been offered to the public before.  It is one of two known sets of solid silver head spurs known.

The inscription reads:

"Major General  George G. Meade /  FROM THE / Great Central Fair / Philadelphia 1864."

General Meade had the nickname "Old Snapping Turtle."

This was presented to him on June 4, 1864.  The Central Fair took place June 7 to June 28, 1864 and was a fundraiser for the U.S. Sanitary Commission.

--Old Secesh