A PIECE OF THE ROPE THAT HANGED JOHN BROWN An excellent John Brown relic, a 3" x 1/4" piece of hemp rope purportedly used to hang radical abolitionist John Brown on December 2, 1859. This section of rope was one of strands that made up the entirety of the original twisted rope. The rope was included in a collector's autograph album bearing an ornate period inscription on the front pastedown: "Rope that John Brown was hung " and is signed by the album's owner "H. Leighton " beneath. We believe that the album was then given to Leighton's son of the same name, as we see a signature "Horace M. Leighton St. Louis 1862 " in another hand on the following page. The younger Leighton seems to have accumulated a number of important war-date autographs while in St. Louis, pasted into the album. They include: CONRAD F. JACKSON (a rare Union general!), WILLIAM K. STRONG , FRANK P. BLAIR , E. D. TOWNSEND , GOV. SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD , WILLARD P. HALE, JOHN C. KELTON , ALEXANDER ASBOTH , FRANZ SIGEL , SAMUEL R. CURTIS, JUSTUS MCKINSTRY , DANIEL WEBSTER , WILLIAM and FREDERICK SEWARD , JOHN M. SCHOFIELD , CLINTON B. FISK , GOV. THOMAS C. FLETCHER , JOHN C. FREMEONT , SCHUYLER HAMILTON , EDWIN W. PRICE , and others unidentified by us. Binding loose, else quite good. A great relic, accompanied by a nice4 collection of signatures. $1,500-2,000