Billionaire hedge fund founder Kenneth C. Griffin has been revealed as the buyer of President Abraham Lincoln's handwritten copy of the 13th Amendment, which sold at Sotheby's for $13.7 million including buyer's premium. The document, one of only four privately held copies, was part of Sotheby's "Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana" sale. Griffin also acquired a signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation for $4.4 million. The auction house announced the winner on Monday, noting that Griffin secured the amendment by phone after competitive bidding.
Griffin's purchase underscores the intersection of art-world philanthropy and historical document collecting among ultra-wealthy individuals. A regular on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list, Griffin is known for his vast holdings of modernist and contemporary art and his multimillion-dollar donations to major museums. This acquisition follows his 2021 purchase of a rare copy of the US Constitution for $43.2 million, which he has lent to the National Constitution Center. The sale also highlights the growing market for Americana and historical manuscripts, with the 13th Amendment price far exceeding the previous record for such a document.