lincoln

A Simple Phrase from Abraham Lincoln’s Last Hours

A Simple Phrase from Abraham Lincoln’s Last Hours

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An auctioneer’s story, by Martin Willis

Back in early 2001, on a bright sunny day I met an auction goer and former consignor at a bank in Durham, New Hampshire. She said she had something important in her safety deposit box that she wanted me to sell at auction. The bank was a beautiful brick Georgian style building perched above the Oyster River. We went into a private room with frosted glass windows, she opened the box, took out a folded document, and handed it to me. I carefully unfolded it saw it was an official New Hampshire 1865 petition and read the following simple phrase on the side of the document: “April 14, 1865, To Edwin M. Stanton, Hon. Secretary of War, please see and hear Hon. Mr. Rollins, & oblige him if you consistently can.  A. LINCOLN” Read more →

Modernistic Silver in Lincoln Massachusetts

Modernistic Silver in Lincoln Massachusetts

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by Martin Willis

If you happen to be one of the 5,000 people to live in a beautiful country town to the west of Boston, Lincoln, Massachusetts then you had the chance recently of owning a local treasure of modernism. During a recent call from my friend Doug Stinson, I learned about a benefit auction he was donating his services at in his home town. He said there was some incredible modernistic silver he was auctioning off the next day, the work of which rivals designs by known silversmith, Georg Jensen. Read more →