Spectacles, a pocketknife, and confederate cash.
Clark, I've been lucky enough to see
a number of incredible objects here at the Library of Congress.
This collection blows me away.
Tell us what we're looking at right here.
What we have here
are the contents of President Lincoln's pockets
the night of his assassination at Ford's Theater,
April the 14th, 1865.
These are the actual things that were in the man's pockets
when he was assassinated.
Yes, yes.
Absolutely incredible.
Let's talk through what these objects are one by one.
First of all,
he had a linen handkerchief,
by the way, with "A. Lincoln" stenciled in red.
He was carrying two pairs of glasses that night.
Two pairs of glasses. Yes.
This larger pair, which, by the way,
has a string repair at the bow.
that was put there by mr. Lincoln himself.
and he had a small folding pair of glasses
as well on his person,
and he had a pocketknife that evening.
it's a multiblade.
There's actually six blades on this pocketknife.
It's silver and, of course, has an ivory casing.
And a watch fob.
Of course, in those days, no wristwatch for men.
You had a pocket watch. Right.
And of course, this would be attached to a chain
and then also, of course, to his watch.
It's made of quartz with gold encasing.
The only money on his person that evening, Jamie,
was a Confederate $5 bill.
He had no Union money on his person.
Abraham Lincoln was carrying a Confederate fiver.
Yes.
What can possibly be the reason for that?
Well, we don't know with 100% certainty,
but just a few days earlier, Richmond had fallen.
and Lincoln did actually travel to Richmond
and this was likely passed on to him as a souvenir.
Some kind of souvenir of the fall of Richmond.
Precisely.
You know, we've looked at a number
of different Lincoln objects here in our visit.
And throughout, I'm struck most of all
by how unspecial they are, in a way.
They're really very everyday.
They're just what a normal man would have in his pocket.
And invariably, the most favored of all objects
within the Library's collections
are the contents of Mr. Lincoln's pockets.
It's really very touching, in its way.
Indeed.
Clark Evans, Head of Reference Services
in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division,
Library of Congress.