A photograph depicting part of the execution of four individuals implicated in conspiracy plots revolving around the assassination of 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), printed ca. 1910, likely from Garner's Photo, from the personal collection of world-renowned Lincoln collector Frederick H. Meserve (1865-1962). The photo is housed in construction paper wrappers and inscribed in Meserve's hand as: "Reading the Warrants." The sepia-colored is hand-stamped "Collection / Of / Americana / Frederick H. Meserve / 265 Edgecombe Avenue / New York City" verso. Possibly marked in stone at upper left. Expected wear including isolated gentle wrinkles, else near fine and quite crisp. The actual size of the photo is 7" x 5." The slotted inner wrapper and the annotated double-hole punched outer wrappers, show expected wear and measure 9.125" x 13."

The photograph of "Reading the Warrants" was originally taken by Alexander Gardner (1821-1882), who was hired by the federal government to document the imprisonment and execution of the alleged conspirators. We do not know whether Meserve printed these photographs from original negatives though the level of detail suggests it is a possibility.

A 9-person Military Tribunal was commissioned by President Andrew Johnson to fully investigate the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, William H. Seward, and Ulysses S. Grant on April 14, 1865. The judicial review was military instead of civilian because the defendants were viewed as enemy combatants during wartime. A military court also had less restrictive sentencing parameters.

Eight individuals were arrested and eventually tried. The Lincoln conspiracy trial took place over a seven-week-long period, from May 9 through June 28, 1865. Verdicts and sentencing were announced on June 30th, and on July 5th, President Andrew Johnson authorized the execution of four of the eight defendants, Mary Surratt, David Herold, George Atzerodt, and Lewis Powell (sometimes called Lewis Payne). President Johnson's Executive Order - General Court-Martial Order 356 alleged that the defendants had "maliciously, unlawfully, and traitorously, and in aid of the existing armed rebellion against the United States of America…combining, confederating, and conspiring together" to assassinate Lincoln, Johnson, Seward, and Grant. They were sentenced "To be hanged by the neck until…dead, at such time and place as the President of the United States shall direct; two-thirds of the members of the commission concurring therein."

At 1:15 pm on July 7, 1865, Surratt, Herold, Atzerodt, and Powell were led out in front of a crowd of about 1,000 spectators, mostly members of the military. The two-tiered gallows was erected in the southern courtyard of Washington's Old Arsenal Penitentiary, today Fort Lesley McNair. The scaffold measured 20" x 20" with the execution platform elevated 12' from the ground. Ascending the gallows must have been challenging, as the prisoners' wrists and ankles were manacled. The defendants sat in chairs while General John F. Hartranft, the provost marshal officiating at the execution, read their death warrants. It was 92 degrees in the full afternoon sun, and Surratt, dressed in a black dress, bonnet, and veil, sought some relief under an umbrella.

During the next moments, the convicted prisoners were bound, hooded, and positioned over the drops. Pre-execution testing of drops and nooses was conducted in the hours before the execution, but Surratt's noose was not tied with the regulation number of knots. A postmortem medical examination revealed that none of the prisoners died of broken necks, and at least two of the prisoners died after minutes of struggling.

Frederick H. Meserve was a preeminent collector of Lincoln and Civil War-era photography, ephemera, maps, and books. He began collecting Lincolniana in 1897, with the intention of illustrating his father's Civil War diary. In the early 1900s, Meserve acquired 10,000 original Brady negatives including seven Lincoln portraits. Meserve continued collecting Lincoln likenesses, as well as photos of Lincoln's contemporaries, over the next sixty years. He eventually amassed a collection of 200,000 pieces including some previously "lost" or unknown images of Lincoln. Meserve's collection was so esteemed for its completeness that he essentially became the custodian of "Lincoln's image." Meserve was approached by medal and currency engravers, as well as by the sculptors of Lincoln's Memorial Monument, for direct access to his presidential photographs. In 2015, the Meserve-Kunhardt Collection was acquired by the Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (New Haven, Connecticut.)

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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