American Historical Ephemera & Early Photography Online

8 1/4 x 6 1/4 in. photograph, framed, 10 3/4 x 9 in. overall. The photograph was printed by George B. Ayres in 1881 directly from the original negative by Alexander Hesler, taken at Springfield, IL, 3 June 1860, [Ostendorf, O-26].

This is one of four known portraits of Lincoln taken by Hesler on 3 June 1860, at the old Capitol Building in Springfield, IL, two weeks after Lincoln's nomination for President by the Republican National Convention in Chicago. The original plates were retained by Ayres when he bought and sold Hesler's gallery immediately after the Civil War. In 1881, Ayres produced prints from the plates and also created a duplicate set of glass negatives [Ostendorf, 49].

[With:] Commercially printed CDV of Lincoln, his birth and death dates printed in lower margin, framed. -- Printed portrait of Mathew Brady, possibly removed from an illustrated magazine, 8 x 6 in. (sight), framed, 10 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. -- Print after painting of Lincoln housed in 15 1/4 x 11 1/2 in. frame. -- 4 modern prints purportedly made from original negatives featuring iconic war-date scenes, including Lincoln at Antietam. -- Small selection of Lincoln-related ephemera, including 5 covers with Lincoln stamps, and a printing of The Little Life of Lincoln in Short Stories by Wayne Whipple. -- Mathew Brady's Great Americans. Time Life Books Inc., 1976. With signed certification from Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt indicating that all photographs in the portfolio were printed from the original glass negatives. -- HAMILTON, Charles and OSTENDORF, Lloyd. Lincoln in Photographs. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963.