Civil War Magic Lantern Slide: Abraham Lincoln’s Dead Body in Chicago For Sale

Wood Mount Magic Lantern Glass Slide, 19th CenturyItem description is keyed to the numbered images above.The numbers and the word WATERMARK do not appear on the actual slide or slides.
Image 2:The wood-mount measures 7” x 4.2”. The glass and the wood are without cracks. This appears to be a slide made by the Theodore J. Harbach Company of Philadelphia. Harbach slides used slightly larger glass than its competitors (3 inches seven-eighths in diameter, as opposed to 3 inches and a quarter) and, more importantly for collectors of Civil War imagery, Harbach used a blue pigment that remained stable with the passage of time, unlike other slide companies that used a blue that slowly turned pink as the slide aged. So skies, flags, and Union uniforms on a Harbach slide still look today the way they did when the slide was new.Image 3:Very faded paper label glued to one of the slide’s sides states: “President Lincoln’s Funeral - the catafalque at the City Hall, Chicago.”Image 1:The image originally appeared in the May 20, 1865 edition of Harper’s Weekly. Lincoln’s funeral train took a circuitous route to his final resting place in Springfield, Illinois. The nine-car train started in Washington, D.C. and made stops that enabled the president’s body to lie in state - briefly - in Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York City, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Chicago. Said Harper’s Weekly: “At Chicago, the demonstration was, if possible, more impressive than at any other stage of the route.”This is one of 8 American Civil War or Abraham Lincoln-related lantern-slide sales ending within 25 minutes of each other. We combine shipping on multiple lots.