John Wilkes Booth Wanted Poster

TheBlackThing

Hi folks, Just wondering could you point me in the right direction as to where to find more info on the following :

Its a wanted poster for the murder of President Abraham Lincoln from 1865. I want to find out if it is authentic, it certainly looks like it is. It reads like this.

War Department, Washington, April 20, 1865.
$100,00 REWARD!
THE MURDER
of our late beloved President, ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
IS STILL AT LARGE
$50,000 REWARD!
will be paid by this department for his apprehension, in addition to any reward offered by Municipal Authorities or State Executives.
$25,000 REWARD
will be paid for the apprehension of JOHN H. SURRATT, one of Booth's accomplices.
$25'000 REWARD
will be paid for the apprehension of DANIEL C. HARROLD, another of Booth's accomplices.
LIBERAL REWARDS will be paid for any information that shall conduce to the arrest of either of the above-named criminals, or their accomplices.
All persons harboring or secreting the said persons, or either of them, or aiding or assisting their concealment or escape, will be treated in as accomplices in the murder of the President and the attempted assassination of the Secretary of State, and shall be subject to trial before a Military Commission and the punishment of DEATH.
Let the stain of innocent blood be removed from the land by the arrest and punishment of the murderers.
All good citizens are exhorted to aid public justice on this occasion. Every man should consider his own conscience charged with his solemn duty, and rest neither night nor day until it be accomplished.
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.

DESCRIPTIONS_BOOTH is 5 feet 6 or 7 inches high, slender build, high forehead, black hair, black eyes, and wears a heavy black moustache.
JOHN H. SURRATT is about 5 feet 9 inches. Hair rather thin and dark; eyes rather light; no beard. Would weigh 145 or 150 pounds. Complexion rather pale and clear, with colour in his cheeks. Wore light clothes of fine quality. Shoulders square; cheek bones rather prominent; chin narrow;ears projecting at the top; forehead rather low and square, but broad. Parts his hair on the right side; neck rather long. His lips are firmly set. A slim man.
DANIEL C. HARROLD is 23 years of age, 5 feet 6 or 7 inches high, rather broad shouldered, otherwise light built; dark hair, little (if any) moustache; dark eyes; weighs about 140 pounds.

__________________________________________________________

The poster does not contain any photos, I'll try and post an image of it in a few mins if I can figure out how to do it!

Ruu_Old

One on Wikipedia here. There are a few on eBay, different styles and one with no photos or images.

TheBlackThing

Ruu wrote: »

One on Wikipedia here. There are a few on eBay, different styles and one with no photos or images.

Could you post a link to the ones on ebay with no photos, I checked earlier and couldn't find any.

Its like the wiki one but without the pics.

Actaully, it says in small print on the bottom left hand corner " Program used at Fords Theatre the night Lincoln was shot" and theres a column running the length of the left hand side with info on Fords Theatre. Not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing!

Ruu_Old

Just checked again there and found this. Looks like the auction is finished/over. It looks to be quite rare. Sorry.

TheBlackThing

Ruu wrote: »

Just checked again there and found this. Looks like the auction is finished/over. It looks to be quite rare. Sorry.

Ya I spotted that one earlier.

Its kinda hard to find info on it, not really sure where to go looking cause I know nothing about collectables! It belongs to an older friend of mine that drinks in my pub. Just curious to see if its worth anything!!

TheBlackThing

CIMG4293.JPG

SpitfireIV

Tell your friend I'll take the risk and offer him €5 for it .

Ah no, interesting item, did you get a good look at it? Printing from that era would leave an imprint of the text on the other side from being passed through heavy rollers or presses, unlike modern printing.