Threaded Mode | Linear Mode

stuarts1031 · 12-10-2020, 02:52 PM

(02-07-2015 04:08 PM)STS Lincolnite Wrote: I'm sure most everyone on this forum has seen the daguerreotype that is purported by Albert Kaplan to be an 1841 image of Abraham Lincoln. I have never given it much thought in the past because, to my eye, there isn't anything more than a very slight resemblance to Lincoln. Today I came across Mr. Kaplan's website that claims the photo has been definitely authenticated as Lincoln. Dave Taylor and I have discussed photo identification in general before and he and I agree...research is one thing but when studying photographs the image has to look like the person it is supposed to be. Below is a link to Mr. Kaplan's website.

http://www.lincolnportrait.com/index.html

The closer I look at this photo, the less and less I think it is Lincoln and my likelihood percentage was low to start with. But I am certainly no expert, and in the interest of discussion and critical appraisal, I would like to hear what other people think. To help with your study, in addition to giving you the weblink above, I am attaching a facial crop of the 1848 Lincoln photo (on the left) that was given to the LOC by Robert Lincoln and of which provenance is beyond reproach. It is generally considered by historians to be the earliest extant photo of Lincoln. I have placed it side by side with the Kaplan photo (supposedly 1841 Lincoln) which is on the right.

What do you think?

Kaplan has been showing that Daguerreotype everywhere for, I think at least 20+ years. Grant Romer, Historian of the George Eastman House in Rochester presented a program on the photo about 20 years ago. He said that he would let everyone draw their own opinion. My opinion, after listening to his remarks and seeing his slides, is that this is not Lincoln. Kaplan has found some "experts" who say that his photo is of Lincoln. There are more experts who do not agree. I am the author of the book "Collecting Lincoln" and have collected Lincoln photos for 44 years. In every "certifiable" Lincoln photo, one look says Lincoln. Lincoln always looks like Lincoln.