Abraham Lincoln
[New York, NY], Early 20th century
Lincoln Brady Photo Study for Carpenter's "First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation," Meserve Printed & Collected
Photograph

A photographic print of 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 showing Lincoln seated in his office was taken by Mathew Brady on April 20, 1864. Inscribed and numbered in pencil by Meserve verso as "106" which corresponds with the numbering system he first developed for his privately published volume, "The Photographs of Abraham Lincoln" (1911). Expected surface wear including mounting traces verso, else near fine. 2.125" x 3.25."

Meserve described the sourcing of this Lincoln portrait, 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 portrait as "a photograph by Matthew [sic] B. Brady, Washington, April 20, 1864. Mr. Henry Wolf, the engraver, who owned the original, stated that Mr. Francis B. Carpenter, the artist, said of it: 'This photograph was made in the White House in 1864. The legs in the white trousers are those of Mr. Nicolay; the legs at Mr. Lincoln's right are my own."

The Brady photo shows Lincoln seated in his White House office/Cabinet Room, now the Lincoln Bedroom. The disembodied legs in the photo, as Meserve notes, belonged to one of Lincoln's private secretaries, John Nicolay (1832-1901) on the right, and to Francis Bicknell Carpenter (1830-1900), an aspiring artist from upstate New York, on the left. Carpenter would use Brady's photo as a visual aid when painting his monumental life-size multi-figure canvas incorporating Lincoln's portrait, "First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln" (1864). (Please see an image of Carpenter's painting, now on display in the U.S. Capitol Building, included here just for reference.) Carpenter's painting depicted the Saturday afternoon in Summer 1862 when Lincoln read aloud the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet members for the first time.

Brady's photo, along with sketches taken from life, helped Carpenter during his painting process. Carpenter lived at the White House for six months, between February and July 12, 1864, when the painting was finished. Brady's photo shows Lincoln seated in a nearly identical position to how he is positioned in Carpenter's painting, with the chair drawn up towards the table, Lincoln's left arm on the table top, and his right arm on the chair arm. The disembodied legs of Nicolay and Carpenter, also seen in the photograph, would become the bodies of Secretary of State William H. Seward, positioned at Lincoln's left, and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, positioned at the president's right, in the finished painting. The details of Lincoln's modestly furnished office were deliberately replicated by Carpenter, not only in compliance with the realism that he endorsed, but also to focus less on the surroundings and more on the subjects. Carpenter eschewed the "false glitter of tapestry hangings, velvet table-cloths, and marble columns" of more grandiose historical paintings in order to depict Lincoln's simple and humble environment.

Carpenter writes about his time preparing for and painting "First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln" in a book called "Six Months At The White House with Abraham Lincoln; The Story of A Picture" (New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1866). The artist recalled Lincoln's enthusiasm for the project, but also his skepticism about Carpenter's ability to make the homely president look presentable. "Then straightening himself to his full height, with a twinkle of the eye, he added, playfully, 'Do you think, Mr. C--, that you can make a handsome picture of me?'" ("Six Months At The White House," p. 19). Lincoln had several distinctive physical characteristics: a gaunt face, a skinny neck, a large mole on his right cheek, and a slightly drooping left eyelid. Though not handsome, Lincoln possessed a plain-spun homeliness that endeared him to voters. The future president's awkward physical appearance went a long way in fostering his log cabin-born rail-splitter mystique.

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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2.125" x 3.25"