No. 2968. Hon. Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. This is Lincoln’s first sitting in Washington and was made by Alexander Gardner in Brady’s studio on February 24, 1861. Five poses of Lincoln were made that day. In this image we can see that Lincoln had just looked at his watch which he holds open in his right hand, and he was probably concerned with all the time it was taking to prepare the lighting and the plates. Amazingly this view has additions of black borders on the sides and at the center, clearly indicating that this was someone’s mourning portrait of Lincoln following his assassination. There is also a missing tax stamp on verso which further indicates that this was done between mid-April 1865 and the summer of 1866.
