Old hat - but maybe not Lincoln’s old hat “We deal in history and we deal in great pieces and this is one of the most exciting pieces we’ve ever owned,” Bill Rau, the third-generation owner of the century-old family business on Royal Street, said Thursday. James McCamly, a military officer believed to have picked the opera glasses up from the street after they fell from Lincoln’s near-lifeless body (it’s unclear if they were in the president’s hands or entangled in his clothing) as he was carried out of the theater on the night of April 14, 1865. Others include generations of descendants of Capt. Previous owners have included the Forbes family of publishing fame - the magazine reportedly paid $24,000 for them in 1979.
Rau Antiques recently acquired the binoculars, known as opera glasses, from a seller who has remained anonymous. It’s their history: Abraham Lincoln is believed to have used them to get a better view of the stage at Ford’s Theatre on the night he was assassinated. NEW ORLEANS - It’s not the gilt-detailed craftsmanship or the age of the small, brass, black-enameled binoculars that might fetch a French Quarter antique gallery’s asking price of $795,000.
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