Abraham Lincoln Photo Days Before Gettysburg Address, Meserve Printed & Collected

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 depicting Lincoln seated next to a table with an ink stand and envelope was taken in November 1863 by Alexander Gardner. Inscribed and numbered in pencil by Meserve verso as "57" which corresponds with the numbering system he first developed for his privately published volume, "The Photographs of Abraham Lincoln" (1911). Expected surface wear including light 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 made by Alexander Gardner in Washington on November 15, 1863, four days before the Gettysburg speech. Mr. Noah Brooks in 'Washington in Lincoln's Time' stated that Senator Edward Everett's oration to be delivered at Gettysburg was in an envelope on the table." Brooks does indeed say this in "Washington in Lincoln's Time" (New York: The Century Co., 1895), p. 286. Modern Lincoln scholars contend that this portrait was actually taken during a Gardner photo session which took place one week earlier, on November 8, 1863, in which multiple views had been taken.

No matter if the original photograph was taken on November 8, 1863 or November 15, 1863, the envelope pictured here could very well have contained Everett's speech. Noah Brooks explained that Lincoln had hoped to peruse the former Massachusetts Senator's speech during odd moments of the photo session. Everett's prepared remarks were intended to be the principal "Oration" at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863. At over 13,600 words long, it took two hours to read. Lincoln's potent 10-sentence-long, 271-word address took two minutes to read and prevented more photographs of him from being taken at the ceremony.

Lincoln sat for over fifty official portraits from his lawyering days on the court circuit until his assassination. 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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