LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 June Civil War Grand Format Auction #663  / 

72263

Door Handle Relic From Libby Prison

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:1,500.00 USD Estimated At:6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD
Door Handle Relic From Libby Prison
<B>The Door Handle From Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia</B></I> 5.25” x 19.5”. This large section of a black pine door retains its handle, two keyhole covers, a bar fitting, a latch and a lock. These metallic elements are all iron save for one of the keyhole covers, which is of brass and filled in. This item is identified by a crude carving on its face, which reads: “<I>Libby Pris. Vir.</B></I>”. All iron has a deep patina with only the lightest rusting. The paint is crazed and chipped throughout. <BR><BR>Libby Prison was the unwelcome destination for many of the US Army officers captured in Virginia. Built as a Richmond dockside warehouse, the building was appropriated by the Confederate government in order to help accommodate the huge influx of captured Yankees into the city. Overcrowding and privation accelerated as the war progressed, with Libby achieving great notoriety in the Northern press. On February 10, 1864 over one hundred prisoners escaped with 59 reaching Union lines. This morale-boosting event was rightly celebrated by a war-weary public and even dramatized for television a century later. The Libby building itself was dismantled in 1889 and re-built in Chicago to house a Civil Museum that remained open for the rest of the century. The museum, too, is now long gone with only a handful of Libby relics surviving into the present time, especially with this being the front door to the prison.<BR> <B>Provenance:</B></I> <I>The Tharpe Collection of American Military History</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Miscellaneous Collectibles, Larg (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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