Lincoln Speech Fetches Big Buck$ At Auction

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Feb 13, 2009 4:00PM

A handwritten copy of a speech given by President Lincoln in November 1864 fetched $3.44 million in an auction in New York yesterday. The speech was given by Lincoln on November 10, 1864 after he won re-election and the manuscript is in Lincoln's own hand. According to the AP: "The manuscript was sold to an anonymous phone bidder after spirited bidding in a crowded Christie's auction house room. Proceeds from the sale will go toward a new wing for a library in New York's Finger Lakes region, where the document has been since 1926." It's a new record for Lincoln-related auctions, topping the $3.4 million that was paid for a letter Lincoln wrote to a group of children asking him to free "little slave children.''