Note: Please see Day 3 (October 11) of the sale that features rare material relating to the Gettysburg Address.

A. Atzerodt, Lincoln Conspirator. Half-length outdoor albumen view. Washington, D.C.: Alexander Gardner, 1865. Mammoth print, 8 x 10 in. Ink identification to mount verso which reads: "L #7782 / A. Atzerodt / Lincoln Conspirator / Hanged." 

This famous view of Lincoln conspirator, George A. Atzerodt (1835-1865), features the infamous criminal looking off to the side of the photographer's lens with his brows furrowed and bags settled under his eyes; the next image taken of George would feature a noose around his neck. 

Initially, upon meeting John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865), Atzerodt, a German immigrant who had lived in the United States for most of his life, was more than willing to assist Booth with his scheme to kidnap Abraham Lincoln. His willingness began to shift as Booth's plot intensified, assigning Atzerodt the task of murdering Vice President Andrew Johnson.

On the night when Booth crept into the president's box at Ford's Theatre, firing his fatal shot, Atzerodt sat in a hotel bar, unable to muster the courage to carry out his task. Tipped off by hotel employees and suspicious onlookers, military police conducted a room search of Atzerodt, finding weapons and bank documents linking him to Booth. He was arrested shortly thereafter on 20 April 1865. Although Atzerodt's attorney tried to argue that he was both a coward and kept in the dark about Booth's assassination plans until the very last moment, proving some sort of innocence, Atzerodt was hanged on 7 July 1865 with three other convicted conspirators in the murder of President Abraham Lincoln. 

This portrait was taken by Alexander Gardner while Atzerodt was held on board the USS Montauk in 1865, awaiting the results of his trial. Gardner documented all of the Lincoln conspirators in their final days awaiting their convictions. His work would follow through to documenting their final moments, hanging from the gallows. 

[Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, Politics, Mary Todd Lincoln, 1860 Election, Election of 1860, 1864 Election, Election of 1864,  Lincoln Assassination, John Wilkes Booth] [Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Carte de Visites, Cartes de Visite, Carte-de-visite, Cartes-de-visite, CDV, Cabinet Cards, Stereoviews, Stereocards]