Lincoln’s Legacy: Historic Americana from the Life of Abraham Lincoln

Engraved portrait, by A. Sealy; 2 3/8 x 2 3/8 in. (64 x 64 mm); affixed to 3 3/4 x 5 in. (95 x 127 mm) mount. Published by the American Bank Note Company. Toning; few light stains to mount. With additional ink inscription in an unknown hand written on a small slip of paper attached to the bottom of the mount, "To W.M. Kasson / Feby 18th 1861." Enclosed in a contemporary thermoplastic case with velvet lining and gilt-metal mat. 

PRESENTATION ENGRAVING FROM A BEARDLESS LINCOLN.

The engraved portrait of Lincoln is based upon one of the most famous photographic portraits of the beardless Lincoln, taken by Mathew Brady on 27 February 1860, a few hours before Lincoln delivered his famous Cooper Union address. According to Lincoln, the speech and the portrait are what put him in the White House (Ostendorf, O-17, pp. 34-35).

This is the only engraved portrait Lincoln is known to have autographed, and is one of only three known extant copies. Six proof copies were reportedly sent to Lincoln in Springfield before he departed for Washington, D.C. to take office. On the trip, Lincoln used a parlor car designed for him by William M. Kasson of Buffalo, New York. The signed engraving was presented to Kasson when the inaugural train stopped in Buffalo on 18 February 1861. According to a testimonial given by Kasson's son, Mahlon O. Kasson, ca. 1936, "My father was...introduced to Mr. Lincoln, who warmly thanked him... Upon the termination of that interview, Mr. Lincoln reached down and into his carpetbag, took out a small engraved likeness, which, he remarked, was his favorite picture of himself, and gave it to my father, after having autographed it with the stub of a lead pencil..." (Holzer & Neely, The Lincoln Image, p. 31).

Provenance:

William M. Kasson, thence to his son, Mahlon O. Kasson

Daniel Kelleher Galleries

Louise Taper, Beverly Hills, California

Exhibition:

The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham
Lincoln and the Promise of America, at the Huntington Library,
October 1993-August 1994