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| Abraham Lincoln is among the figures whose autographs are in the Viele album |
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| There are also two small fragments from the confederate flag that flew over Fort Pulaski and was torn down in April, 1862, by Union soldiers under the command of General E.L. Viele |
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| There's also a letter from James Monroe |
Also appearing at the New York fair was an extraordinary autograph album, assembled by the wife of General Egbert Ludovicus Viele, which contained autographs by some of the most important political, literary, artistic and scientific figures of the day, including President Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John C. Frémont, Louis Agassiz, Emanuel Leutze and more than 100 others. Swann will offer this very album in our March 19 Autographs auction.
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| Artist Emanuel Leutze signed and inscribed this drawing of a frontiersman on horseback after a figure in his painting, Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way |
The last time the album was sold was in 1864 when William Astor won it at a New York fair auction with a bid of $20,000—a great sum at the time. Astor then topped the generosity of his bid by gifting the album he had won to Mrs. Viele, in whose family the album has remained until the present day.
Thank to Marco Tomaschett, Swann Autographs Specialist, for this blog post.