I missed the auction, but as I don’t really have $30000 kicking around at the moment I was never in the running for top bidder. Someone lucked out, though. This is quite the collection!

The album contains the autographs of anyone who was anyone living in Washington DC during the Civil War, Soules said. That includes the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, George Armstrong Custer, Kit Carson, Robert E. Lee and Brunswick’s own illustrious Maj. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain.Soules said the autographs were compiled in the album by William Kettles, who worked at a telegraph station right across from the White House… Working as a telegraph operator, Kettles likely asked people coming to the telegraph station if he could get their autograph.

Source: ‘Holy Grail’ of Civil War autograph albums up for auction | www.timesrecord.com | The Times Record