Lot 1595

GORE VIDAL ON LINCOLN'S 'SYPHILIS'

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GORE VIDAL ON LINCOLN'S 'SYPHILIS'

Estimate: $300 - $400

Starting Bid: $140

(0 Bids)

by Alexander Historical Auctions LLC
July 31, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Live Auction
106 East Main Street, Suite 103
Elkton, MD, US 21921

GORE VIDAL ON LINCOLN'S 'SYPHILIS'
GORE VIDAL (1925 - 2012) American writer known for his essays, novels, screenplays, and Broadway plays. His works criticized the social and sexual norms he perceived as driving American life. An incredible content A.L.S., 2pp. 8vo., Salerno, ca. 1981, to Byron Dobell, editor of American Heritage magazine. While writing his blockbuster biography 'Lincoln', which would be released in 1984, Vidal makes an outrageous claim which would cause an uproar among Lincoln scholars. In part: '...I thought Ward's piece fair enough except that, re: syphilis, the possibility that L[incoln]. told Herndon that he had had it has not 'been demolished by scholars more than a quarter of a century ago' - The best they could do was say that Herndon was a heavy drinker, etc. I'm fascinated that anyone, today, thinks it horrible that a great man got syphilis. Just about every sexually active man/woman in those days was at risk...Do ask Ward to get me D. Malone's quote that my view of Jefferson is 'pernicious'. That goes on the dust jacket...' With transmittal cover. Fine. Vidal caused a major literary and historical stir with his 1984 novel 'Lincoln'. In his press tours, he asserted that Abraham Lincoln contracted syphilis as a young man in a bordello, which left him essentially celibate and caused his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, and three of their sons to suffer from related medical issues. Historians widely disputed this, prompting a long-running public debate between Vidal and Lincoln scholars.

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$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000