Last known picture of Abraham Lincoln

[loetar44]

Maybe an old discussion, but today I exchanged thoughts with a friend of mine about the last known picture of Abraham Lincoln alive. Several books published by well-respected Lincoln authors say that Alexander Gardner’s photo (the one with the crack in the glass plate)of April 10, 1865 is the last picture of AL alive. But “new evidence” indicated that the date of April 10 was not correct and was more likely (???) February 5, 1865, making a photo of Henry F. Warren which he took February 6, 1865 on the south balcony of the White House, the last known one of Lincoln alive. What exactly caused that April 10 for the Gardner portrait suddenly became February 5?

[RJNorton]

Kees, this error can be traced back many years, but I don't really know the exact origin. Lincoln Day By Day erroneously lists the photo as April 10, and the source given is The Photographs of Abraham Lincoln by Frederick Hill Meserve, Carl Sandburg (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1944). In the War Years Sandburg writes that the photo was taken during the second week of April, 1865. However, as there are no footnotes, I don't have a specific source for Sandburg's misinformation.

[Jim Garrett]

That is such an iconic image. AL looks so exceedingly weary. Regardless of the date, it is probably the last portrait of Lincoln.

[RJNorton]

Kees, one more thought regarding your question. I believe it was Lincoln scholar, Mr. Harold Holzer, who discovered the error (that the April 10 date was incorrect, and the February 5 date was the correct one for the last Gardner sitting). I am not entirely 100% certain of that, but I think I did read it somewhere.

[loetar44]

(09-29-2014 12:20 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Kees, one more thought regarding your question. I believe it was Lincoln scholar, Mr. Harold Holzer, who discovered the error (that the April 10 date was incorrect, and the February 5 date was the correct one for the last Gardner sitting). I am not entirely 100% certain of that, but I think I did read it somewhere.

Thanks Roger, that leaves the question why Mr. Holzer came to the conclusion that the date was incorrect (what did he discover?) and why it was Feb 5?

[Gene C]

This article by Barry Cauchon may help some

http://awesometalks.wordpress.com/2008/1...oln-alive/

Barry has a nice website / blog

[SSlater]

Does anyone have a "Lincoln -Day by Day"? If we can show that he was not available, in Washington, for a Photo-Shoot, some of the "Claimed" dates might be eliminated. As of NOW, I could not prove which days he was in Richmond. Some say "the First day after the surrender". Some say the "second day after the surrender". When did he leave Richmond and arrive back in D.C.? This would tie in with Jacob Thompson's claim that he was in Washington, about this same time, in an attempt to meet with Lincoln, - and he wasn't there.

[RJNorton]

John, I have Lincoln Day By Day. He departed City Point for the return trip to Washington at 11:00 P.M. on April 8. This was aboard the River Queen. He arrived in Washington at about 6 P.M. on April 9.

In late afternoon on April 3, while at City Point (after meeting with Grant in Petersburg earlier in the day), he telegraphed Stanton, "It is certain now that Richmond is in our hands, and I think I will go there tomorrow." On April 4 he went to Richmond. The next morning, April 5, he returned to City Point.

[STS Lincolnite]

Didn't Nicolay and Hay in one of their books state that the last photos of Lincoln were taken in March, 1865? I don't have any copies so I can't check. That doesn't illuminate us on how or why the Gardner photo was previously dated April 10, but it would narrow the time of Gardner's session to before early March. This would then be consistent with the February 1865 dating.

[SSlater]

Correction on Thompson's arrival. He said he arrived in Washington, but was "not allowed to see Lincoln". (I had that filed under KATE THOMPSON and couldn't find it.
A little musing: If I had just won a war, and had just spent a week on the road and arrived home at 6 PM - I doubt I would sit for a portrait the very next day. That puts me in the camp with those who say - He didn't have a picture taken on April 10th. Then again, maybe he did and the picture where his tie is askew and he hadn't shaved between his beard and his sideburns, is the result.

[RJNorton]

(09-29-2014 07:35 PM)STS Lincolnite Wrote:  Didn't Nicolay and Hay in one of their books state that the last photos of Lincoln were taken in March, 1865? I don't have any copies so I can't check. That doesn't illuminate us on how or why the Gardner photo was previously dated April 10, but it would narrow the time of Gardner's session to before early March. This would then be consistent with the February 1865 dating.

Scott, yes, the March 6 date was in the 1894 Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln. Also, portrait painter Matthew Wilson's diary states that the Gardner photographs were made on February 5, 1865, not April 10th.

Still, the original source of the April 10th misinformation remains a mystery.

[Linda Anderson]

Kees, the thread "The Interminable, Everlasting Lincolns" includes discussion of Lincoln's last photo.

http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussio...-1351.html

RE: "The Interminable, Everlasting Lincolns"
Part 1

"A president’s last sittings, different interpretations of photographs, and the predispositions of storytellers vs. collectors."

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/201...rt-1/?_r=0

"The story of the crack, along with the original April 9 date, was printed in The New York Times on Feb. 12, 1922. O-118 was captioned: “The President Sat for This Photograph Just Five Days Before Booth Shot Him. The Cracked Negative Caused it To Be Discarded. It Has Only Once Before Been Published, and Then in a Retouched Form.” The accompanying text by James Young read:

"Probably no other photograph of Lincoln conveys more clearly the abiding sadness of the face. The lines of time and care are deeply etched, and he has the look of a man bordering upon old age, though he was only 56. Proof that the camera was but a few feet away may be found by scrutiny of this picture… The print has been untouched, and this picture is an exact likeness of the President as he looked in the week of his death." [10]

[RJNorton]

Thanks, Linda. I think that article answers the mystery - Frederick Hill Meserve mis-dated the photo, and many authors trusted his judgment and erroneously used the April 10th date. I think most, if not all, of the more recent books have it right (Feb. 5th).

[loetar44]

Thanks Linda for bringing clarity !

[Warren]

(09-30-2014 01:15 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Thanks, Linda. I think that article answers the mystery - Frederick Hill Meserve mis-dated the photo, and many authors trusted his judgment and erroneously used the April 10th date. I think most, if not all, of the more recent books have it right (Feb. 5th).

Slight aside, and I apologize, but I'm seeing photos from the Meserve Collection showing up on that (in)famous internet auction site. They state that they were made directly from the negatives in the Meserve collection, and one even has the handwriting of Meserve on an envelope enclosing the photos. I truly believe these are real, and they seem to be from a reputable seller. But were there only a few that would have been made from the collection's negatives, or would they in actuality be quite common? I'm looking to add to my photo collection and want to get as many first generations as I can. Thanks, and sorry for the interrupt.