This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/28/2021
[ABRAHAM LINCOLN FORGERY]. Eugene Field II forged Abraham Lincoln signature. Penned on the upper cover of: DICKENS, Charles. Dombey and Son. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson & Brothers, [1854]. 8vo. Publisher’s pictorial printed wrappers (edges chipped, rear panel detached). Provenance: Eugene Field (the author’s ownership signature on title, possibly forged by his son); inscription at the end of p. 320: “This book came from/the library of my father, Eugene/ Field/Nov 9 – 1931/Eugene Field II”. FROM A KNOWN LINCOLN FORGER. Between the 1920s and 30s, Eugene II was known to have forged Lincoln’s signature in many books that had been previously owned by his grandfather which Eugene Field Sr. had left to his son. Eugene II profited greatly from the forgeries and later partnered with another known counterfeiter named Harry D. Sickles. It is believed that the two men went on to falsify more than 100 Lincoln documents as well as signatures of numerous other famous figures including Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling and Theodore Roosevelt.