Description:

Abraham Lincoln
Washington, DC, ca. 1902
Lincoln & McClellan At Antietam After Gardner By George Prince, Enormous!
Photograph
A large Civil War photograph showing 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln meeting Union General George B. McClellan and other officers following the Battle of Antietam, originally taken by Alexander Gardner (1821-1882) of the Mathew Brady Studio, and modified by George Loren Prince, Sr. (1848-1929), the Washington, D.C. portrait photographer, in 1902. Inscribed with whiting inside the image as "Copyright 1902 / by Geo Prince." Pencil signed "Prince" outside the image at lower left, and pencil inscribed "Fotographe [sic] / Washington" outside the image at lower right. Entitled "President Lincoln" at the center of the mat. Enlarged and enhanced by Prince; details to be elaborated below. Affixed to a paper mount and framed behind glass in a contemporary gilt-filet oak frame. Not examined out of the frame. Expected wear to the frame including isolated minor checks or chips. The actual size of the photograph is 21.5" x 12.875" while the frame size is approximately 33.5" x 25.5" x 1.25." Ex-Collection of Steve Forbes.

The wet glass collodion photograph of Lincoln and McClellan was originally taken by Gardner on October 3, 1862. Prince has enlarged the Gardner photograph and enhanced it with numerous hand-applied details to the landscape, background, and figures. He has carefully in-painted the bottom margin, and hand-painted tree leaves along the right margin. Indistinct or blurry details in the figures' uniforms, limbs, shoes, clothing, and swords from the original Gardner photograph have been sharpened or textured to create an illusion of three-dimensionality. The large black imperfection found on the middle tent (as it appeared in Gardner's original photograph) has been silently corrected by Prince.

The Battle of Antietam (also called the Battle of Sharpsburg) was the first large-scale Civil War battle to take place on Union soil, on September 17, 1862. Union General George B. McClellan and his Army of the Potomac succeeded in forcing Confederate Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia to flee southwards, but at great cost; the battle remains the bloodiest day in American military history, with over 22,000 casualties. Lincoln visited McClellan two weeks after the battle to urge him to pursue Lee, which the latter failed to do. Disappointed with McClellan's performance, Lincoln dismissed him from command in November 1862.

George Prince was a prolific photographer based in Washington, D.C., and active from the 1880s until the late 1910s. His interests included photographic portraits of both living and dead presidents: Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, etc. Other subjects included First Ladies Edith Roosevelt and Frances Cleveland; presidential cabinets; inaugural events; the U.S. Congress; and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prince was a popular, up-and-coming photographer of the mid-1880s; a Supreme Court historian has described Prince as: "truly the new young 'prince' of Washington portrait photographers. He was celebrated for his artistic compositions and beautifully finished prints, and local newspapers regularly gushed over his sittings with famous clientele…" Prince also photographed cultural events, like speedways, boxing matches, theatres, gardens, parades, baseball games, and Grand Army of the Republic encampments.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: framed: 33.5" x 25.5" x 1.25"
  • Medium: Photograph

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