Abraham Lincoln went to the theatre on April 14, 1865. 

Because of what happened that night - a shot, from assassin John Wilkes Booth ended his life - every detail of those few hours has been studied in minute detail. 

And now, you could be the owner of the gloves the President carried to the show. 

They’re nice gloves, as you would expect: white, kid leather, and very well made. 

The gruesome detail that ties them to the most famous crime of the American 19th century is the blood staining. 

It’s clearly visible too. And, although the fluids are long faded from deep red, there’s little doubt as to what the marks on the handwear are. 

A flag from Lincoln's victorious 1860 election campaign. Image courtesy Freeman's Hindman.  

They are expected to realise as much as $1.2 million if the top estimate from Freeman’s Hindman auctioneers is on target. 

The gloves are the star item in a 140-lot sale of items from the Lincoln Presidential Foundation. The auction is expected to make over $4 million in total. 

Lincoln’s political and personal achievements are mesmerising in themselves. He has a compelling, and very American back story, and led the winning side in the Civil War. Arguably, he is the man who did the most to end slavery in the US. 

The fact of his murder makes him even more attractive to collectors. 

The most valuable items related to Lincoln are papers that tell the story of his greatest moments: a victory speech from his second election win in 1864 made $3.4 million; a signed copy of the Proclamation of Emancipation (that freed slaves in the US) realised around $3.8 million in 2010. 

Lincoln was an early beneficiary of the growth of photography. 

Lincoln lived a public life as photography became a mass medium and some of the most notable early portraits in the art are of him. 

Here, his autograph, written in a rhyming couple of lines when a child, has an estimate of $300,000 to $400,000. 

A copy of his first printed work might make as much as $200,000. 

But death is never far away. A button from his cuff has a $300,000 top estimate. 

In 2015, the Dow Collection of Lincoln memorabilia that focuses heavily on the president’s killing realised over $800,000. In March this year, a collection of letters and documents and a pair of handcuffs belonging to soldier Christian Rath was sold for $62,500. His claim to fame? He oversaw the imprisonment and execution of the Lincoln conspirators. 

This sale is likely to add another record to the history of Lincoln’s life and death.