The Fathers and Saviors of Our Country: A Presidential Sale

Eulogistic Services, Under the Auspices of the Young Men's Association, of Chicago, in Memory of Abraham Lincoln, at Bryan Hall, On Saturday, April 22d, 1865, at 8 P.M. [Chicago?]: s.n., 1865. 8vo (210 x 133 mm). (Old folds). Provenance: contemporary notations in pencil from an attendee of the funeral ("The World has never given but one Lincoln" and "A wonderfully eloquent and appropriate speech one worth more to hear than any other I have ever heard except Mr. Lincolns own speeches"). -- Programme of Section 1, Masonic Fraternity. Division 7. Springfield: Masonic Trowel Print, [1865]. 8vo (203 x 127 mm). Decorative black mourning borders. (Some splitting to fold.) -- Programme of Division No. 7. Springfield: Masonic Trowel Print, [1865]. 8vo. Decorative black mourning borders.

Together, 3 works in 3 volumes. Abraham Lincoln’s funeral processions through Illinois in early May 1865 were marked by solemnity and immense public participation. The funeral train, having left Washington, D.C., made its way to Illinois, drawing silent crowds along every stop. In Chicago on May 1, up to 250,000 mourners lined the draped streets as the hearse passed beneath gothic arches and flags, accompanied by military units, civic organizations, and freedmen. Lincoln’s coffin lay in the rotunda of the Cook County Courthouse, where tens of thousands filed past in hushed reverence. Upon arrival in Springfield on May 3, the procession included military and local dignitaries, and Lincoln’s body lay in state at the Old State Capitol. On May 4, a final procession led to Oak Ridge Cemetery, where he was interred beside his son Willie, concluding a journey that had become both a regional and national act of mourning.