“[O]ne could infer that Booth purchased this book as a direct result of the beginning of the Civil War,” according to the Heritage Auctions catalogue. Booth himself was a non-combatant, but he was “pathologically devoted to the Confederate cause and yearned to strike a blow on Dixie's behalf.” He would get the chance just four years later when he shot the president point-blank at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.
As part of the Bret J. Formichi American Civil War Rarities Collection, the volume heads to auction in Dallas later this month, although pre-bidding has already raised it above $15,000. Two portrait cards, one of Booth alone c. 1860s and one of Booth and his conspirators c. 1865, accompanies the lot.
