Civil War Magic Lantern Slide: Dying John Wilkes Booth Dragged from Burning Barn 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:Faded hand-written paper label glued to one of the slide’s sides states: “The capture of Booth the assassin, the dying miscreant dragged from the flaming barn.”Image 4:More recent typewritten label along one of the wood-mount’s edges: “BOOTH FROM BURNING BARN.”Image 1:The image originally appeared on the front page of the May 13, 1865 edition of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, where the caption wisely eschewed the use of the word “miscreant” and stated: “THE KILLING OF BOOTH, THE ASSASSIN - THE DYING MURDERER DRAWN FROM THE BARN WHERE HE HAD TAKEN REFUGE, ON GARRETT’S FARM, NEAR PORT ROYAL, VA., APRIL 26, 1865. FROM A SKETCH BY AN EYE-WITNESS.”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.