A portrait photograph showing Sergeant Thomas H. "Boston" Corbett (born 1832, disappeared 1888), the Union officer who fatally shot alleged presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) on April 26, 1865. Printed ca. 1910, and from the personal collection of world-renowned Lincoln collector Frederick H. Meserve (1865-1962). The photo is hand-stamped "Collection / Of / Americana / Frederick H. Meserve / 265 Edgecombe Avenue / New York City" verso. Expected surface wear including gentle corner folds, else near fine. The photo measures 2.125" x 3.25."

The photograph shows Corbett in his Union Army Sergeant's uniform seated in a domestic setting; he pages through a book left open next to a Victorian mantle clock. Corbett's lower sleeve insignia and striped pants are clearly visible. This very unusual photograph of Corbett is made even more rare by the absence of his Union kepi placed in front of the clock; other versions of the photo feature it prominently in the middle ground but it is missing here.

Boston Corbett was a Sergeant in the 16th New York Cavalry Regiment in late April 1865. Corbett's unit had been tasked with apprehending suspected assassin John Wilkes Booth and his accomplice David Herold, both on the run. The two conspirators were holed up in a tobacco barn at Richard Garrett's farm in Port Royal, Virginia. Herold surrendered to Union troops, but Booth resisted, and the barn was set on fire. The troops had strict instructions from Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to bring Booth back alive, yet in the chaos, Sergeant Corbett shot Booth through the head and neck, later explaining, "Providence directed me." Booth, whose gunshot injury rendered him paralyzed, died two hours later of asphyxia. Corbett was initially arrested and court-martialed for disobeying orders. Stanton later released Corbett with his thanks, and the awkward hero was widely praised as "Lincoln's Avenger." Corbett's mental instability has been attributed to a host of possible causes, including religious fanaticism and past exposure to toxic hat-making chemicals; the troubled ex-veteran disappeared in 1888 after escaping from the Topeka Asylum for the Insane.

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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