Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Mathew B. Brady, American, 1823 - 1896
E. & H. T. Anthony Company, New York, American, active 1814 - 1884
February 24, 1861
Albumen print mounted on card stock (carte-de-visite)
Image: 3 1/4 × 2 3/16 in. (8.3 × 5.5 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College
PH.X.986.90
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
19th century
Object Name
Photograph
Research Area
Photograph
Not on view
Inscriptions
Inscribed, on reverse, in graphite: Abe Lincoln; printed, on reverse: Published by/ E & H.T. ANTHONY/ 501 Broadway/ New York/ CA (in insignia) FROM PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVE/ in/ BRADY'S/ National Portrait Gallery
Label
Taken weeks before the start of the Civil War, this small photograph card features a bearded Lincoln, looking down, eyes almost closed, sitting at a writing table. Mathew Brady and his studio took thirty portraits of Lincoln between 1860 and 1864. Widely distributed as cartes de visite and used as the basis for images in newspaper articles, these portraits provided the country with a visual record of Lincoln beginning with his presidential campaign and extending through his presidency and leadership during the Civil War. Cartes de visite were a popular way to distribute images of famous people, including political figures, during the 19th century.
From the 2026 exhibition Inhabiting Historical Time: Slavery and Its Afterlives, curated by Amelia Kahl (Barbara C. & Harvey P. Hood 1918 Senior Curator of Academic Programming) and Alisa Swindell (Associate Curator of Photography)
Course History
HIST 7.32, Civil War Photography, Robert Bonner, Spring 2019
SART 29, Photography I, Christina Seely, Spring 2019
SART 29, Photography I, Christina Seely, Fall 2019
ARTH 48.02, History of Photography, Katie Hornstein, Winter 2020
ARTH 48.02, History of Photography, Katie Hornstein, Winter 2020
ARTH 48.02, History of Photography, Katie Hornstein, Winter 2020
HIST 7.32, Civil War Photographs, Robert Bonner, Winter 2022
Art History 48.02, Histories of Photography, Katie Hornstein, Spring 2024
Exhibition History
Inhabiting Historical Time: Slavery and Its Afterlives, Jaffe and Hall Galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, December 20, 2025 - July 11, 2026.
Signs of Modern Life: Photographs from the Collections of Jane and Raphael Bernstein and Dartmouth College, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 13-October 25, 1998.
Provenance
Source unknown; catalogued, 1986.
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