Sep 27, 2018 - Sale 2486

Sale 2486 - Lot 97

Price Realized: $ 375
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
(PRINTS--PRESIDENTIAL.) Prang, Louis, lithographer. Very early presidential portrait, making a guess at the new whiskers. Lithograph, 11 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches, captioned simply "Abraham Lincoln"; minor toning, 1-inch repaired tear in margin, mount remnants on verso. Boston: L. Prang & Co., [1861]

Additional Details

Second of three states. Prang's first publication of this lithograph was issued during the 1860 campaign, based on Hesler's 1857 beardless photograph, but imagining that Lincoln had made at least a cursory effort to comb his hair. This second state was apparently issued shortly after the election in response to the news that Lincoln had grown whiskers--but without any accurate report on what those whiskers actually looked like. The fictional muttonchops presented here are actually quite dashing. Prang later issued a third state with a full beard, though a somewhat fuller one than Lincoln ever actually wore. Lincoln Image, page 74.