DAN MADSEN’S DECADES-LONG PURSUIT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND MARK TWAIN RELICS CULMINATES IN AN AUCTION FILLED WITH CAMPAIGN ITEMS, SIGNED LETTERS, AND LITERARY TREASURES
By Jesse Hughey | March 3, 2026
Dan Madsen is best known as the founder of the official fan clubs of two massively influential science fiction franchises — one set “a long time ago” and one in the 23rd century. As a collector, though, he also has an impressive assemblage of items related to historic figures he calls “the two giants of the 19th century” on the timeline of our own history in the nonfiction universe. On March 18, his most prized items will be up for auction in Heritage’s Dan Madsen Collection of Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain Memorabilia Americana & Political Signature® Auction.
“This collection brings together two of the most consequential figures in 19th-century America, Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain,” says Heritage Auctions Historical Consignment Director Ray Farina. “Assembled over many decades, it pairs the historic political leadership of Lincoln with the literary genius of Twain and shows how both these men defined the American voice.”
This 1860 Abraham Lincoln-Hannibal Hamlin campaign flag is prized among collectors for its unique spelling ‘Abram.’
Madsen’s interest in collecting began in his youth with comic books and evolved to include Star Trek and then Star Wars items as his love of science fiction led him to become a devoted fan of the television series and movies.
“I remember watching the Civil War PBS series by Ken Burns, and what stood out to me was what an amazing man Abraham Lincoln was,” Madsen says. “I started buying books and learning more and more about him and just became fascinated with Lincoln. I started getting auction catalogs, making friends in the Lincoln collecting community. I would look at every auction catalog from the last 40 years that had anything Lincoln. It was almost like a wildfire. Once I started collecting Lincoln items, I just went crazy.”
An invitation to ride President Lincoln’s funeral train, issued April 20, 1865, to journalist L.L. Crounse
The fascination with Twain began in a similar manner after he picked up a biography and was captivated by the author’s outsized and lasting impact on American culture. He saw parallels between the two, particularly in how both were proponents of equal rights for every American, and so he began collecting Twain items as well.
The twin jewels of his Lincoln collection will be among the items on the auction block March 18. First among them is a very early campaign flag from the 1860 Abraham Lincoln-Hannibal Hamlin presidential run — or rather, as the lettering on the flag says, “Abram Lincoln.”
“What’s fascinating about this is it was so early in the campaign, they didn’t even know how to spell his name,” Madsen says.
This hand-carved parade display used during Lincoln’s campaign employs the powerful ‘Rail-Splitter’ imagery central to his political identity.
His other particularly beloved Lincoln item also dates to the political campaign of that crucial election. This hand-carved Wide Awake Rail-Splitter Fence Parade Standard is a one-of-a-kind piece of folk art so remarkable it became the centerpiece in the legendary political Americana collection of U.I. “Chick” Harris. Featuring a tableau of Lincoln campaign symbols, it comprises four sections of a zig-zagging split-rail fence, a log with an embedded ax, and a maul and wedge.
Designed to be carried in torchlight processions, it references Lincoln’s self-made, hardworking frontiersman image. The item was among a select number of pieces on view in a 2009 display at the Lincoln Bicentennial exhibit in Federal Hall in New York City and was visible in Lincoln collector Jonathan Mann’s segment on Martha Stewart’s show Martha to promote the exhibit.
Another exceptionally rare piece in the Lincoln sale is an invitation to ride on Lincoln’s funeral train. Only a very small number of correspondents were issued these invitations, including L.L. Crounse of The New York Times, the original bearer of this one. A pass to Lincoln’s April 19, 1865, funeral at the Executive Mansion, one of fewer than 600 issued to officials and dignitaries, is another somber relic related to Lincoln’s memorial service.
An 1884 terra cotta plaque depicting Mark Twain and George Washington Cable
Madsen points to two items among his Twain memorabilia as exemplary lots. The first is a terra cotta plaque Twain commissioned depicting himself and author George Washington Cable. The plaque was likely a commemoration of the joint reading and lecture tour Twain and Cable embarked upon in 1884. Two of the medallions are at the Smithsonian Institution, and Yale University and the Connecticut Historical Society each house clay models, making this the only one in private hands. Included in the lot is a Boston Music Hall ticket listing entertainments on the back, including a lecture by Twain and Cable on November 13, 1884.
The other item Madsen is especially fond of is a business card of Samuel Clemens, Twain’s given name. On the recto is printed “Saml. L. Clemens / Hartford, Conn.” Clemens has written “over” at the lower right, and on the verso, it is signed “Very Truly Yours / Saml L. Clemens / Mark Twain.”
A twice-signed business card of Samuel Clemens, Twain’s given name
An 1876 letter from P.T. Barnum to Samuel Clemens brings another colossus of the American 19th century into the auction, and it comes from a turning point in the nation’s history: the pivotal, contentious presidential election that resulted in Rutherford B. Hayes eventually taking office. It reveals Barnum was somehow unaware national elections take place on Tuesdays, according to the text, in which he explains a change in travel plans: “My Dear Clemens, I really thought Election-day would be next wednesday-but find it is tuesday-so my wife & self must leave Hartford tuesday by the 12-25 or 12-54 train. You would have been stuck for two nights if I did not want to vote for Hayes & Wheeler...” Signed, “P. T. Barnum.”
Madsen says one of the things he admires about Twain is his brash honesty, and that is on proud display — along with Twain’s sardonic wit — in an 1881 letter to his publisher, James R. Osgood. It seems Twain was less than impressed with some edits to a recently submitted chapter: “I am sending chapter VI back unread. I don’t want to see it any more until this goddamded idiotic punctuating & capitalizing has been swept away & my own restored… which latter mess of God-forever-God-damned lunacy has turned my hair white with rage.” He then closes the letter: “Sweetly, sweetly yours, Mark.”
A first edition of Twain’s ‘The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County’
Collectors of rare books should take note of several items in the auction, including, among many others, a first edition of Twain’s first novel, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County; a first edition of Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court; a first edition of Twain’s A True Story, and the recent Carnival of Crime; and Clemens’ personal copy, with his signature of ownership on the title page, of The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, a book he possibly referenced during the writing of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.
Though the collection focuses on Lincoln and Twain, it also offers other treasures from history, including a military discharge paper from 1783 signed by George Washington; a Revolutionary War-era letter signed by Thomas Jefferson as Governor of Virginia, directing the tax commissioners of Rockingham County to submit overdue returns; and a signed studio portrait of Theodore Roosevelt.
Madsen has given thought to how his American history heroes would have fit into the worlds of his beloved sci-fi franchises: “It’s not a stretch to say that both would fit right into the Star Trek universe,” he says. “Star Trek was all about human rights — everybody being equal. Their size, shape, and color make no difference. It’s the content of their characters.”
In fact, he points out, both are well represented in the franchise, as creator Gene Roddenberry was a great admirer of Lincoln and wrote into the show that Lincoln was a hero of Captain Kirk. He even gives a starring role to a character who appears to be Honest Abe in the original series episode “The Savage Curtain.” Later, Samuel Clemens appears in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation when a temporal disturbance results in Clemens meeting Enterprise crew members in 1893 San Francisco and later time-traveling to the 24th century.
As for Star Wars, Madsen himself brought a winking reference to Lincoln into the franchise’s official canon when George Lucas gave him a cameo appearance in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace as Naboo animal trainer Dams Denna (an anagram of Madsen’s name). Denna’s trading card notes he is “a collector of Linn’con memorabilia.”
