Hair Of The Week (3)
If you missed out on Gandhi’s glasses, don’t despair. Coming up for auction later this month, according to Boston-based RR Auction, is a two-inch lock of hair which was removed after Lincoln got in the way of John Wilkes Booth’s bullet. It was given to a doubtless grateful Dr Lyman Beecher Todd, cousin of Lincoln’s wife after being removed during a post-mortem examination of the then former President.
Giving the lock provenance, it was wrapped in a telegram dated April 14, 1865, sent to Dr Todd by the War Department, announcing Lincoln’s death. The lock, described as “bushy”, was removed from Lincoln’s left temple and given to Dr Todd. Having nothing else to wrap the blood-stained lock in, he folded the telegram around it and wrote on it in pencil, “Hair of A.Lincoln”.
Competition for it is expected to be fierce with a reserve set at $75,000. Bids close today.
