Lot of 3 cdvs. The centerpiece is a Civil War-period Brady carte of Ford's Theater manager and namesake John T. Ford. To our knowledge, there are no other known photographs taken of John during the Civil War era. The cdv is accompanied by the trimmed cabinet card of John's brother and business manager James R. Ford, and a carte of brother Harry Clay Ford, with a John Goldin & Co., Washington, D.C. backmark. The John Ford cdv and James Ford photograph with manuscript notes on verso identifying the sitters and their positions at Ford's Theater at the time of the assassination. John Thompson Ford (1829-1894) became manager of his first theater, in his hometown of Baltimore, at the age of 25, and would go on to manage over a dozen up and down the East Coast (Senator James Blaine once said "he has managed so well some theatres north of Mason and Dixon's line, and all of them south of it"). Ford's theaters and his involvement in Maryland politics (he was the acting Mayor of Baltimore in the late 1850s) allowed him to meet many of the most famous entertainers and politicians of the day. One of these acquaintances was the actor John Wilkes Booth. Because of this friendship, and the fact that Ford was in the recently deposed Confederate capital of Richmond on the night of the assassination, he and both brothers were jailed in connection with the crime. Ford admitted that he had notified Booth of Lincoln's reservation at the fateful play, but it was only in passing, and he had no further knowledge of the plot. The brothers were released after 39 days and agreeing to sell the theater building to the federal government for $100,000, money John used to expand his theater empire. Provenance: The Ed Steers Lincolniana & Civil War Collection
Lot of 3 cdvs. The centerpiece is a Civil War-period Brady carte of Ford's Theater manager and namesake John T. Ford. To our knowledge, there are no other known photographs taken of John during the Civil War era. The cdv is accompanied by the trimmed cabinet card of John's brother and business manager James R. Ford, and a carte of brother Harry Clay Ford, with a John Goldin & Co., Washington, D.C. backmark. The John Ford cdv and James Ford photograph with manuscript notes on verso identifying the sitters and their positions at Ford's Theater at the time of the assassination. John Thompson Ford (1829-1894) became manager of his first theater, in his hometown of Baltimore, at the age of 25, and would go on to manage over a dozen up and down the East Coast (Senator James Blaine once said "he has managed so well some theatres north of Mason and Dixon's line, and all of them south of it"). Ford's theaters and his involvement in Maryland politics (he was the acting Mayor of Baltimore in the late 1850s) allowed him to meet many of the most famous entertainers and politicians of the day. One of these acquaintances was the actor John Wilkes Booth. Because of this friendship, and the fact that Ford was in the recently deposed Confederate capital of Richmond on the night of the assassination, he and both brothers were jailed in connection with the crime. Ford admitted that he had notified Booth of Lincoln's reservation at the fateful play, but it was only in passing, and he had no further knowledge of the plot. The brothers were released after 39 days and agreeing to sell the theater building to the federal government for $100,000, money John used to expand his theater empire. Provenance: The Ed Steers Lincolniana & Civil War Collection
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
