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Abraham Lincoln
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On February 5, 1865, Abraham Lincoln visited the
Washington photographic studio of Alexander Gardner,
where he posed for a series of portraits, including
this one, for which Gardner used a very large glass
negative. In spite of Gardner’s fine technique,
the negative broke, and only a single photograph
was made before the negative was destroyed. Collector
Frederick Hill Meserve acquired this portrait from
Gardner’s friend Truman H. Bartlett in 1913 and
believed it to be the very last portrait of Lincoln
ever made. Modern historians have proved Meserve
wrong, but the myth persists, sustained by the power
of Gardner’s candid image. |
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Alexander Gardner (1821–1882)
Albumen silver print, 1865
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
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