Description:

JOHN WILKES BOOTH
(1838 - 1865) American actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, tracked-down and finally shot by Boston Corbett in a barn as it burned. Rare and fine content A.L.S. "J. Wilkes Booth" 4pp. 8vo., St. Joseph, [Mo.], Jan. 2, 1864 to "Dear Kim", his friend Moses Kimball, the noted Boston theater owner and showman. Booth writes a letter of melancholy tinged with bitterness, with a tantalizing reference to the return of his "old luck". Booth recounts his New Year's adventures, including the loss of his "best friend" (a whiskey flask!) in a blizzard. Booth writes, in full: "Here I am snowed in again. And God knows when I shall be able to get away. I have telegraphed St. Louis for them not to expect me [Booth was engaged to play in that city.]. It seems to me that some of my old luck has returned to hunt me down. I hope you passed a delightful New Years, you and your kind lady, but I fear not, I will give you a slight glimpse of mine. I arrived at Fort with one ear frost-bitten. I saw our friends there had a ___, well I won't say what. And then after giving my boy my flask to keep for me, I started for a run and made the river (four miles) on foot. I run without a stop, all the way. I then found my boy had lost that treasured flask. I had to pay five dollars for a bare-backed horse to hunt for it. I returned within sight of the Fort, and judge of my dismay upon arriving to see a waggon just crushing my best friend, but I kissed him in his last moments by pressing the snow to my lips, over which he had spilled his noble blood. I got back to the river in time to help and cut the ice that the boat might come to the shore. And after 'a sea of troubles,' reached this Hotel a dead man. Got to bed as soon as I could where I have been ever since. Am better now and will I expect get up tomorrow. You must excuse this scrawl. I am the worst letter writer alive. And I am trying to get through this on a cold bed. Give my best wishes to Mrs. Kimball and ask her to forgive me for keeping her husband out so late at night. I guess she is glad I am gone. We may get away from here Monday or tomorrow: we can-not tell. Hoping you will remember me to all my friends. And that you will look over this poorly written letter. I remain Yours truly J. Wilkes Booth". The letter raises some interesting questions relative to Booth's use of alcohol. His father, Junius, was a notorious alcoholic, and John's brother, Edwin struggled with drink in the 1850s and 60s -- so much that it began to impact his performances. John too was known for his fondness for drink and impulsive behavior. On the afternoon of April 14, 1865, he went into the Greenback Saloon, next door to Ford's Theatre after he had finished rehearsing his escape. That evening, after leaving his horse with a stage hand in the alley behind the theater, he again went into the Greenback Saloon and "...slapped a few coins on the bar, and called for whiskey and water" (Michael W. Kauffman, American Brutus220, 225). He then left to pace in the alley and then went back into the theater and climbed the stairs to the President's box. Moses Kimball (1809-1895), Booth's correspondent, was an important Boston theatrical producer and showman. A close associate of P.T. Barnum, Kimball established several "museums" in New England including the famous Boston Museum which he opened in 1841, and it was Kimball who gave "The Fejee Mermaid" to Barnum in 1842. Two years later he would add a theater to the Boston Museum which would serve as one of the principal theaters in Boston. Booth thoroughly enjoyed playing Boston, and apparently intended to settle there later in life, going as far as to purchase a lot at 115 Commonwealth Avenue. Boston too liked Booth: in January 1863, according to one of Kimball's playbills, an "EXTRAORDINARY FURORE [was] Excited by this Young Artist's histrionic efforts has never been equaled by any star…". One newspaper claimed that the Museum's house carpenter had been contemplating placing, "a row of hooks and pegs around the lobby and gallery, for the latecomers to hang from". Only a few months following the date of this letter, Booth would again appear on Kimball's stage in a variety of roles including Claude Melnotte in The Lady of Lyons (April, 1864); Pescara in The Apostate (April 1864), and the dual roles of Fabian and Louis Dei Franchi in the Corsican Brothers in May 1864. His Spring 1864 run at the Boston Museum would be his last appearances on stage… save for his unannounced cameo at Ford's Theatre the night of April 14, 1865. Published in "Right or Wrong, God Judge Me": The Writings of John Wilkes Booth, ed. J. Rhodehamel and L. Taper, pp.93-94. Provenance: The Sang Collection (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 26 April 1978), lot 46 [envelope then present]. Anonymous owner (sale, Christie's, Dec. 9, 1993, lot 158, $42,550). Anonymous owner (sale, Christies, Dec. 16, 2004, lot 419, $45,410). (sale, Heritage, Dec. 1, 2006, lot 421, $40,343) Usual folds, a few minor contemporary ink spots, else fine condition.

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October 9, 2010 11:00 AM EDT
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