Abraham Lincoln Presidential Nomination-Era Photo, Meserve Printed & Collected

A photographic print of future 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), printed sometime in the early 20th century, from the personal collection of world-renowned Lincoln collector Frederick H. Meserve (1865-1962). The original photo depicting Lincoln surrounded by a crowd of people outside of his Springfield, Illinois home is believed to have been taken sometime during the summer of 1860, after Lincoln had secured the Republican Party presidential nomination. Numbered in pencil by Meserve verso with the number "16," which corresponds with the numbering system he first developed for his privately published volume, "The Photographs of Abraham Lincoln" (1911). Expected gentle surface wear including the slightest adhesive residue verso, else near fine. 2.125" x 3.25."

Meserve described the sourcing of this Lincoln photograph, as with others like it in this particular collection, with the following statement: "the photographic portraits [have been] printed from the original negatives or from negatives made from the original negatives." Thus these photos can be considered as Type II or Type IV photographs. Meserve described this Lincoln photograph as a "detail from a photograph 8 x 10 inches in size by an unknown photographer showing Lincoln standing in the door of his home in Springfield watching a procession probably during the summer of 1860, celebrating his nomination. A large procession passed his house on August 8, 1860. It is also thought to be a procession favoring the admission of Kansas to the Union, as the banner states, 'Won't you let me in (Kansas).'"

Frederick H. Meserve was a preeminent collector of Lincoln and Civil War era photography, ephemera, maps, and books. He began collecting Lincolniana in 1897, with the intention of illustrating his father's Civil War diary. In the early 1900s, Meserve acquired 10,000 original Brady negatives including seven Lincoln portraits. Meserve continued collecting Lincoln likenesses, as well as photos of Lincoln's contemporaries, over the next sixty years. He eventually amassed a collection of 200,000 pieces including some previously "lost" or unknown images of Lincoln. Meserve's collection was so esteemed for its completeness that he essentially became the custodian of "Lincoln's image." Meserve was approached by medal and currency engravers, as well as by the sculptors of Lincoln's Memorial Monument, for direct access to his presidential photographs. In 2015, the Meserve-Kunhardt Collection was acquired by the Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (New Haven, Connecticut.)

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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