NYTimes famous Lincoln photograph book review

[David Lockmiller]

MR. LINCOLN SITS FOR HIS PORTRAIT: The Story of a Photograph That Became an American Icon, by Leonard S. Marcus

Book review by By Candace Fleming
Jan. 6, 2023

[W]ith the arrival of Leonard S. Marcus’s meticulously researched “Mr. Lincoln Sits for His Portrait,” we can add yet another facet to our 16th president’s complicated character: media manipulator.

The "meticulous research" reads as follows:

Marcus looks at six iconic Lincoln photographs taken by Anthony Berger at Mathew Brady’s Washington, D.C., studio on Feb. 9, 1864. But his gaze lingers on one image in particular: a portrait of Lincoln reading to his youngest son, Tad. The photograph would come to play an important part in Lincoln’s legacy. It depicts his loving and tender side, and evokes “the extraordinary power of his words” and “the power of books to bind generations together.” For some, it also served as proof that Lincoln was a devout Christian. (Many viewers claimed the image showed father and son poring over the Bible.)

It turns out that the Library of Congress has the original photo in its possession and describes it as "Abraham Lincoln and his son Tad looking at an album of photographs." According to the Library of Congress, this is the only close-up of President Lincoln wearing spectacles.

Apparently, "meticulous research" on President Lincoln isn't what it used to be.

In the Notes section of the Library of Congress hyperlink destination is an entry that reads: "Lincoln and Tad study a Brady album in this photograph."

Also, in the Notes section is a reference to an altered photograph: "The retouched scene changed the album into a family Bible." (Source: Ostendorf, Rockywood Press, 1998, p. 183-4)