[LINCOLN, Abraham (1809-1865)]. GARDNER, Alexander (1821-1882), photographer. Carte-de-visite photograph signed ("A. Lincoln"). Washington, D.C., 9 August 1863. 

Carte de visite; 3 1/2 x 2 3/16 in. (89 x 63 mm), affixed to 3 7/8 x 2 15/16 in. (100 x 77 mm) gilt-ruled mount. Boldly signed by Lincoln on mount below image. Toning; occasional spotting; wear to edges; top corners of print and mount rounded; abrasion to recto.

A BOLDLY SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN AS TAKEN BY ALEXANDER GARDNER.

One of a series of six images of the President taken by Alexander Gardner in Washington, D.C., on 9 August 1863. The photograph shows Lincoln seated, looking up from his copy of that day's pro-Union paper The Washington Daily Morning Chronicle with spectacles in hand. John Hay, Lincoln's secretary, wrote about this session in his diary, "I went down with the President to have his picture taken at Gardner's. He was in very good spirits" (Ostendorf O-71, pp. 130-134).

Provenance:

Louise Taper, Beverly Hills, California
Exhibition:

The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America, Huntington Library, October 1993-August 1994

Property from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Foundation

This lot is located in Chicago.