New Lincoln Photo - A HOAX !
This photo was recently released
and purported to be the last photo of Abraham Lincoln alive. Ok,
at first it seemed like a possibility. Yet, the more one evaluates
the photo, the more questions it poses.
This is a close up of Lincoln in front
of the White House, a very rare image in current times. Only two
photos, including this one, suggest Abraham Lincoln had his photo
taken in front of the White House. None have been authenticated.
While it lacks facial detail, it contains a reasonable provenance
to suggest to some it is authentic. Yet a closer look causes some
issues as to authenticity. Three of the figures in the photo appear
to be black including the soldier on duty at far left. The bodyguards
do not appear to be the Lincoln's security. The tall figure towers
over the other images standing at relatively the same altitude.
Something the six foot three and one-half inch tall Lincoln would
do. Yet, there is a figure standing taller than the alleged figure
of the President. For all of Lincoln's traits, he was not one to
let someone stand taller than he in a photo.
This desire to make the photo a "Lincoln
photo", collector Keya Morgan , as a part of his publicity
campaign has pointed out that Warren took 3 photos and the third
was the hoax photo.
The photo indeed bears the seal of
photographer Henry F. Warren who took the last photo of Lincoln.
It was the day after Lincoln's second inauguration. The provenance
of the photo sessions photo indicates that Photographer Henry Warren
was inWashington D.C. and unable to get the President to sit for
him. Warren continued to take photos at the White House hoping to
capture the President in an ad hoc moment. He finally was told by
White House servants to take photos of Tad Lincoln as a way to get
the President to sit for him. When Warren was through with the photos
of Lincoln's son, he then had Tad get his father for a sitting on
a balcony of the White House.
The President, visibly not happy at
being pulled from a Cabinet meeting, sat for three exposures. At
the end of the third, the President is said to have asked if there
was anything else, likely in a less than grateful tone. When he
was told no, the President returned to his Cabinet meeting. The
three poses are displayed here as E-113 - E-115 and Lincoln was
coaxed to a White House balcony by his son, Tad. Lincoln is obviously
not pleased by the interruption in the photos. It would seem unlikely
that Lincoln would then go downstairs and to the front of the White
House for a distant shot.
While this photo was discovered in
the personal album of President and General Ulysses S. Grant, it
does not guarantee that it is a Lincoln photo. Grant's 38-year-old
great-great-grandson, Ulysses S. Grant VI, had seen the image in
the family collection and in late January examined it in detail.
As researchers investigated the 2 1/2-by-3 1/2-inch photo, they
discovered a handwritten inscription on the back: "Lincoln
in front of the White House." While Grant believes his great-grandfather,
Jesse Grant, the general's youngest son, wrote the inscription,
it seems baffling to me tthat the handwriting was not verified before
publicizing the photo. In addition, it seems a bit less believable
that it took over one hundred forty eight years for someone to look
at the back of the photo. What do you think?
This photo was released in March
2009 in black and white. Here for the first time, the photo is
presented in color as part of Bryan Eaton's collection of Color
of Lincoln.
To further debunk this misrepresentation
as a photo of Lincoln (primarily by collector Keya Morgan) here
are the three Warren photos. There is little change in the pose
but all three when overlayed on each other show differences. Obviously
this 5 minutes or so in taking these exposures does provide us with
another side of the legendary affability of Abraham Lincoln.
