Alexander Gardner, 17 Oct 1821 - 10 Dec 1882 Search this
Sitter:
Abraham Lincoln, 12 Feb 1809 - 15 Apr 1865 Search this
Medium:
Albumen silver print, on carte de visite mount
Dimensions:
Image: 8.9 × 5.6cm (3 1/2 × 2 3/16")
Mount: 10 × 6cm (3 15/16 × 2 3/8")
Type:
Photograph
Date:
August 9, 1863
Exhibition Label:
The president had promised to be Gardner’s first sitter when he opened his Washington studio. Lincoln came into the studio on Sunday, August 9, 1863—the day before the official opening—in order to avoid crowds, and Gardner took a series of six portraits of the chief executive. John Hay, Lincoln’s secretary, wrote in his diary, “I went down with the President to have his picture taken at Gardner’s. He was in very good spirits.” Among the images taken at this session was this one, which shows Lincoln seated at a table with a newspaper in his left hand and his eyeglasses in his right.
