John Wilkes Booth

One of the curious artifacts in the University Archives & Special Collections is this theater eyeglass, part of the Howells-Frechette Collection. William D. Howells, a major figure in the late 19th-century literary circles, was a known associate of Edwin Booth, brother to the infamous John Wilkes Booth; it’s likely that’s how the Howells family came to own this eyeglass. The accompanying note says “A  stage eyeglass belonging to John Wilkes Booth, the murderer of President Lincoln.”