RICHMOND, Va. - Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee characterized Virginia's Civil War secession as a revolution and President Abraham Lincoln uncharacteristically scolded a couple for their lack of loyalty to the Union cause in letters scheduled to be sold at auction.
The letters, along with a trove of Civil War treasures that includes the opera glasses Lincoln carried into Ford's Theatre the night of his assassination, will be up for bidding today at Sotheby's, the New York auction house.
The opera glasses could fetch up to $700,000. The Lincoln letter, which was never mailed, is notable for its fiery tone and Lee's because it lays bare the gravity of his decision to stand by his beloved Virginia as it bolted from the North.
Lee and Lincoln were among the defining personalities of the Civil War, which is being recalled during 150th anniversary commemorations.
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"I think you have to say that Lincoln is the principal figure in the North, and I do think most people, if asked, would come up with Lee in the South," said Selby Kiffer, international senior specialist in books and manuscripts for Sotheby's.
The Lee letter is expected to bring in $400,000 to $600,000, while the Lincoln letter's pre-sale estimate is $200,000 to $300,000.
Lee's correspondence is valued more because it relates to "a historical moment that was momentous both personally and for the history of a nation," according to Sotheby's.
The sums are considerably lower than the $3.4 million paid in 2008 for a letter Lincoln wrote to Massachusetts schoolchildren who appealed to him to "free all slave children."
The letters are among about 20 Civil War-related items to be auctioned today, including the German opera glasses Lincoln brought to Ford's Theatre the evening of April 14, 1865. The glasses were recovered by a former soldier who served on the Washington, D.C., police force and remained in his family until they were bought by a private collector.
The auction will also include an original ledger from the first Confederate prison for Union soldiers, located in Richmond; and a Confederate flag from the naval cruiser CSS Alabama.
Kiffer expects the sesquicentennial to generate more treasures for auction by Sotheby's.
"I do think it's reinvigorated old collectors and maybe will bring some new ones into the fold," he said.
