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James Fisk, Jr. Clipped Signature, CDVs, and Other Ephemera,

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:800.00 USD Estimated At:800.00 - 1,000.00 USD
James Fisk, Jr. Clipped Signature, CDVs, and Other Ephemera,

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Auction Date:2009 Jun 24 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
Location:6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
lot of nine items related to James Fisk, Jr., the American stock broker and corporate executive, featuring Fisk's clipped autograph; four CDV photographs, including two portraits of Fisk, one in uniform with Howell's Broadway, NY imprint, and the other in civilian clothing with Geo. Stinson & Co.'s Portland, ME imprint, an image of Edward S. Stokes, Fisk's business associate, and one portrait of Josephine Mansfield Lawler, a showgirl with whom both Fisk and Stokes had an affair; an issue of Harper's Weekly, Vol. XVI, No. 786, January 20, 1872, 16pp, numbered, featuring a large, front-page portrait of Fisk as well as a detailed account of his life and death, 11" x 16.5"; excerpts from an illustrated newspaper entitled Life, Career and Assassination of James Fisk, Jr., 6pp, unnumbered, which covers various aspects of Fisk's scandalous life and death, 10" x 16"; a book by Robert H. Fuller. Jubilee Jim: The Life of Colonel James Fisk, Jr. New York (NY): The MacMillan Company, 1928. 8vo, green cloth boards with dustjacket, 566pp; and a chromolithograph depicting James Fisk being shot by Edward Stokes, with a brief biography of Fisk's life printed on verso, 4.75" x 6.25".

Fisk (1834-1872) was a shrewd 19th century financier who was notorious for participating in wild, often questionable investments in the stock market. As a result of his business relationship with Daniel Drew and Jay Gould in New York City, Fisk gained control of the Erie Railroad with the two gentlemen in the 1860s. Gould and Fisk also made an effort to corner the gold market, but this attempt ended with Black Friday of 1869. Although he was married, Fisk was involved in a scandalous affair with Josie Mansfield. However, she fell in love with Fisk's business associate, Edward Stokes, who eventually left his wife and family for the showgirl. After losing most of his finances and attempting to extort money from Fisk, Stokes shot and killed Big Jim in New York. He died at the age of 37. 

Condition: Even toning and soiling to CDVs; even toning to newspapers; edgewear to newspapers; even toning to book.