Beschreibung:

LINCOLN, Abraham]. BRADY, Mathew, publisher . Carte-de-visite portrait photograph of Lincoln and his son "Tad," taken by Anthony Berger in Brady's Washington D.C. studio on 9 February 1864. Hamilton & Ostendorf, Lincoln in Photographs , O-93, pp. 182-183 and 254-255. Albumen photograph on original card mount, the image clear and sharp, with good detail (mount slightly browned) . Verso with Brady backstamp: "Brady's National Portrait Gallery..." BRADY'S POIGNANT IMAGE OF THE PRESIDENT AND HIS TEN-YEAR-OLD SON THOMAS ("TAD"). One of the most popular images of Lincoln, posed with the Lincolns' youngest son, Thomas or "Tad," 10 years old at the time. The image was frequently reproduced in various sizes by Brady and in many cases copied by unauthorized photographers. In Brady's studio, Lincoln seated himself in an armchair and placed a large album of carte-de-visites on his lap; Tad--for the occasion dressed in his best clothes (including watch fob and chain)--stood to Lincoln's left while they studied the album. In unretouched examples, the album's brass clasps and the cartes themselves, mounted four to the page, are easily discerned. Lincoln expressed concern that the album might be mistaken for a lectern-size Bible, and told Noah Brooks that the picture might be considered "a species of false pretence," since "it was a big photograph album which the photographer...had hit upon as a good device...to bring the two sitters together." Just as Lincoln feared, after his death some versions were carefully retouched in order to make the album appear to be a large Bible. As one of the best-known "domestic" images of Lincoln it was reproduced by Harper's Weekly and copied by many artists and lithographers (see Holzer, Boritt and Neely, The Lincoln Image , pp.174-175, figs.82-86).