* SJ-R…

A Springfield lawmaker said Thursday he’d be willing to look at selling some non-Lincoln artifacts that were part of the Louise Taper collection acquired in 2007 for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

However, Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, labeled as “ridiculous” any suggestion that Lincoln-related items should be sold to help retire the debt on the collection’s purchase.

Butler said he was told tangentially there may have been discussions about the library and museum divesting itself of some of the Taper collection. Butler said he first heard about the possible sale Wednesday.

However, the collection includes items that are not related to Lincoln, Butler said, and that’s a different matter.

* The Taper collection has been a source of controversy for years…

Two months before a major haul of Abraham Lincoln artifacts was purchased on behalf of the state, a New York appraiser raised questions about the authenticity of a $6.5 million stovepipe hat that purportedly belonged to the 16th president, newly released state records show.

That new disclosure represents the first evidence that state authorities were warned they might be on historically shaky ground with the hat before it was bought in 2007 from California collector Louise Taper as part of a $23 million acquisition of Lincoln items.

It also appears to further undercut assertions from the Lincoln presidential museum that there is “just not any question” about the hat’s provenance as the institution maintained in January when the hat was put on display without any recognition of its iffy past.

Taper’s collection, which included a large cache of Lincoln memorabilia and a smattering of other prizes such as a $40,000 dress worn by Marilyn Monroe, was acquired in May 2007 by a nonprofit foundation headed then by former Gov. Jim Edgar.

But the library folks still insist the hat is real and that they have the provenance to prove it.

* Anyway, the Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation has responded to the SJ-R story…

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation has been in talks with Governor Rauner’s office since the end of last year, including a meeting held earlier this week that helped enhance everyone’s understanding of the situation. Our goal has been to try to secure state funds to help keep a number of unique Lincoln artifacts in the State of Illinois while at the same time we continue to raise private support.

The Foundation took out a $23 million loan eleven years ago to acquire the artifacts to enhance the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum’s (ALPLM) collections and before they would be privately sold. We did so at the request of and to benefit the ALPLM. Since then, the Foundation has paid down more than $13 million of the outstanding debt exclusively through private fundraising.

While the Foundation’s lender has been quite helpful, we now face significant uncertainty about whether the Foundation’s lender will be willing and able to refinance the loan at affordable terms. The loan comes up for renewal in October 2019, just 20 short months away.

Based on the meeting with the Governor’s office this week, but receiving no financial commitments, the Foundation will continue its private fundraising efforts and be prepared to discuss a financial plan that would include some state funding, in the hopes of avoiding having to sell these unique artifacts. If the Foundation is not able to secure commitments in the very near future to retire most if not all of the remaining $9.7 million debt, it will have no choice but to accelerate the possibility of selling these unique artifacts on the private market which would likely remove them from public view forever.

It’s important to note that, in addition to private fundraising, the Foundation has made three prior attempts to secure appropriations from the Illinois Legislature to help pay down the debt.

Reading between the lines of that release, it looks to my eyes like the foundation may have to sell off Lincoln artifacts if something doesn’t change very soon.

…Adding… I’m told the Hollywood artifacts are already scheduled for a June auction.