Alexander Gardner, photographer

[Steve]

I found this article on Alexander Gardner, that some of you might find interesting:

https://www.thecollector.com/alexander-g...civil-war/

[David Lockmiller]

(04-19-2024 10:33 AM)Steve Wrote:  I found this article on Alexander Gardner, that some of you might find interesting:

https://www.thecollector.com/alexander-g...civil-war/

I would highly recommend to scroll down to the photograph of Lincoln taken by Gardner in 1865. According to text, it "could be the last image taken of the president, just five days before his assassination." This photograph would have been President Lincoln as he looked to General Grant and his officers as they said farewell to President Lincoln at the train station before Appomattox.

[Dennis Urban]

It has been a long time since I studied that image in detail. I expanded it and looked at it in detail. It is a haunting image for sure. The focus could not be in Lincoln's eyes as they are not lighted and very deep set. I wish his eyes were in better focus. The focus is more on the center of his face and his lips. He looks troubled, as he no doubt was. Some of those who described him when he entered Ford's Theatre said he looked sad. No doubt. His remarkable aging in four years of war tells a story in itself. How very sad indeed.

[RJNorton]

It should be noted that the Gardner image was taken on Sunday, February 5, 1865. Some books have misinformation on the photo, saying it was taken on Monday, April 10, 1865. According to Lincoln's secretaries, John Hay and John Nicolay, the actual last photographs were taken on the White House's south portico by photographer Henry F. Warren of Waltham, Massachusetts. The date was March 6, 1865. This information is stated in their Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln which was published in 1894.

LAST IMAGE OF LINCOLN IN LIFE

[Gene C]

Thanks Steve.
The article linked to is very good. It mentions a book "Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War"
That book is available on the Internet Archives - https://archive.org/details/gardnersphotogra0000gard

You have to log in to their site to view it, but that is an easy process, and I haven't received any junk emails from signing in.

[David Lockmiller]

(04-19-2024 06:19 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  It should be noted that the Gardner image was taken on Sunday, February 5, 1865. Some books have misinformation on the photo, saying it was taken on Monday, April 10, 1865. According to Lincoln's secretaries, John Hay and John Nicolay, the actual last photographs were taken on the White House's south portico by photographer Henry F. Warren of Waltham, Massachusetts. The date was March 6, 1865. This information is stated in their Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln which was published in 1894.

LAST IMAGE OF LINCOLN IN LIFE

Thank you, Roger, for those corrections of historical fact.

Would it be possible for you to post the Gardner image taken on Sunday, February 5, 1865? It would be nice to have on this thread for everyone to see.

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(04-19-2024 05:04 PM)Dennis Urban Wrote:  His remarkable aging in four years of war tells a story in itself. How very sad indeed.

Excellent statement.

[RJNorton]

Would it be possible for you to post the Gardner image taken on Sunday, February 5, 1865? It would be nice to have on this thread for everyone to see.

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Yes, will do.

[David Lockmiller]

(04-20-2024 11:38 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Would it be possible for you to post the Gardner image taken on Sunday, February 5, 1865? It would be nice to have on this thread for everyone to see.

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Yes, will do.

Roger, that is not the same photo that appears in the magazine article with the caption underneath that reads: "Abraham Lincoln, three-quarter length portrait, seated and holding his spectacles and a pencil] by Alexander Gardner, 1865. Source: Library of Congress."

I just learned the photograph was taken the same day by Gardner. The almost full-length photograph shows President Lincoln sitting in a chair next to a table with his left elbow on the table.

[RJNorton]

Is this it?

[David Lockmiller]

(04-20-2024 05:19 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Is this it?

Yes, that's the photograph, Roger. Thanks.

Perhaps a better version is in Steve's original post hyperlink.

Dennis Urban is correct in his post: "It is a haunting image for sure."