1866 "Abraham Lincoln" Seated Portrait, Published by McDonnell Bros.

Presented is a wood engraving, entitled "Abraham Lincoln." This handsome seated portrait depicts President Abraham Lincoln. He is bearded, in a suit and bow tie, seated in a wooden chair, with a small, ornate side table at his side. The table is set with an inkwell and quill and his upturned top hat. Lincoln is angled to the side, not looking directly at the viewer, but far off, as if in deep thought. This wood engraving is from Vol I, page 47 of Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War. It was included in a chapter titled "Fort Sumter,” discussing events of March 4, 1861, the day Abraham Lincoln was first sworn into office as President of the United States and delivered his first Inaugural Address. 

Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War, authored by Alfred H. Guernsey and Henry Mills Alden, is a significant two-volume work. Volume I was first published in 1866 and Volume II was published in 1868, printed by McDonnell Bros., in Chicago. It is celebrated for its extensive collection of wood-engraved illustrations, maps, and portraits documenting the American Civil War. Many of the stories and engravings were drawn with minimal alteration from Harper’s Weekly, the most widely read periodical of the era, preserving the immediacy of wartime reportage. As noted by Eicher, the “work delivers the news of the war much as the civilians during the conflict experienced it, and it is therefore both touching and memorable”. Beyond a straightforward chronicle, the work places the war within the broader sweep of American history, offering thoughtful exploration of its causes and a level of analysis made possible only in the years following the war’s end.

Harper's Weekly was one of the first American weekly newspapers to incorporate woodcut illustrations. By 1860 the circulation of Harper's Weekly reached 200,000 and it became the nation’s most influential newspaper. At the start of the Civil War, the newspaper did not want to lose readership, so it issued articles and illustrations from both Union and Confederate points of view and took a more moderate stance on abolition. Yet as the war progressed, that paper became increasingly pro-Union and a staunch supporter of the Republican party and Lincoln. Its war reporting and illustrations informed the Northern populace of key battles, troop movements, covered political events and elections, and convinced many to support abolition. 

CONDITION: 

Very good + condition. Wood engraving, titled "Abraham Lincoln.” From Vol I, 1866. Page 47. Chapter titled "Fort Sumter,” discussing events of March 1861. Paper with light toning. Image size 8 1/4" H x 6 7/8" W. 

Archivally framed in a custom-built black wooden frame and acid-free mat and backing. Framed Dimensions: 22 3/8" H x 17" W x 1 1/4" D.

Accompanied by our company's letter of authenticity.