The honest details of History Center’s ‘Lincoln’ show

Atlanta is celebrating Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday a little late. But just-released details of the exhibition about the 16th president, coming to the Atlanta History Center, make it seem well worth the wait.

“With Malice Toward None: Tiffany diamond The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition,” opening here Sept. 4, should appeal to both fans of Lincoln and those interested in American history, especially the difficult Civil War-era chapters.

Making its only stop in the South, this Library of Congress-organized exhibit will include a number of American treasures:

    * The Lincoln family Bible, upon which both Honest Abe and Barack Obama swore the oath of office — Lincoln on March 4, 1861, Obama on Jan. 20, 2009.

    * Items Lincoln was carrying louis vuitton bags in his pockets the night he was assassinated, including two pairs of spectacles, a watch fob, a pocketknife, newspaper clippings (several favorable to the president and his policies) and his brown leather wallet containing a $5 Confederate note.

    * Key national documents including true religion rainbow drafts of the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln’s handwritten farewell address.

    * Mary Todd Lincoln’s jewelry, including a gold Tiffany necklace with matching bracelets.

    * A grammar book Lincoln studied as a boy.

The exhibit will employ interactive computer stations, multimedia presentations, documents, books, broadsides, newspapers, prints, tiffany jewellry  photographs, artifacts and maps in detailing the Lincoln presidency and challenges he faced, including slavery and the dissolution of the Union.

The History Center is touting its 9,200-square-foot permanent exhibit of more than 1,400 Union and Confederate artifacts, “Turning Point: The American Civil War,” as a bookend to “With Malice Toward None.”