This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/29/2026
Autograph letter signed by Henry Burnett, prosecutor of the Abraham Lincoln assassination conspirators, regarding publications written about the trial. From New York on 9 April 1889, Burnett writes to Judge Advocate General James Grant Wilson, in part,
''My dear General / I have read during the winter two papers before our Commander of the Loyal Legion. The first, 'Incidents in the Trial of President Lincoln's Assassins' and the second 'The Controversy Between President Johnson and Judge Holt Over the Recommendations to Mercy of Mrs. Surratt.' / The Society voted that these two papers should be published by the Society...I would like to see and confer with you about this matter. Will you fix some time and place for me to see you - or better still will you come down some day - any day - at 1:30 and lunch with me at our Lawyers Club and we can then talk the matter over?...Henry L. Burnett''
Following the trial, Burnett, like the other prosecutors, was accused of tampering with evidence including the suppression of a mercy petition for Mary Surratt, referenced here in this letter. Two pages on bifolium stationery measures 4.5'' x 7'', with the blank integral leaf mounted to a slightly larger sheet. Near fine condition.