As Seen on eBay

Lincoln-Hamlin 1860 Campaign Ferrotype

Many campaign materials from the 1860 Presidential Campaign featured images of Abraham Lincoln and his running-mate, Hannibal Hamlin. Recently appearing in this blog, for example, was an 1860 Lincoln-Hamlin jugate. Ferrotypes were commonly used for small buttons and pins.

This 1860 Lincoln-Hamlin ferrotype pin featured Abraham Lincoln on one side and Hannibal Hamlin on the other. It's listed on eBay by seller walnutts, who frequently lists items of historical interest. The ferrotype pin is currently at $315, with nearly 8 days to go before the auction ends on March 21, 2011.

The images are clean and crisp with small surface scratches that are most noticable under magnification:

see original eBay listing

The ferrotype pin is about 15/16" in diameter. The brass frame bears the year of 1860 on both sides, and the name "Abraham Lincoln" and "Hannibal Hamlin" on the appropriate sides. A hole in the top of the frame allowed for the insertion of a ribbon for use as a necklace or a lanyard.

Ferrotypes are photos on tin. As a photographic medium that was popular during Lincoln's latter days, it's sometimes confused with daguerreotypes. Here's a run-down of mediums on which Lincoln's photographic image was commonly produced:

• Daguerreotype (photo on polished silver plate). Required a dangerous process: heating mercury and using the vapors to develop the plate. Popular from about 1839-1860.
• Ambrotype (photo on glass). Cheaper than daguerreotypes to produce but generally resulted in a duller image. Popular from about 1851-1870.
• Ferrotype (photo on tin). Popular from about 1853-1920.
• CDV or carte-de-visite (photo on paper). Popular from about 1850-1900.

For a pictorial guide to these image types, see Thomas Weynants' Pioneer Processes in Early Photography.

 

Freedom to the Slaves by Currier & Ives

"Freedom to the Slaves, proclaimed January 1, 1863, by Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. 'Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.' Lev XXV 10."

So reads the bottom of the Freedom to the Slaves print by Currier & Ives, with a verse from Leviticus 25:10. This undated print celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation is now on eBay, in an auction scheduled to end on February 28, 2011. With eight days remaining, the current price is $127. [Update: The auction ended at $567.77.]

see the original eBay listing

It is framed in a frame type common to the 1860s, with wavy glass and a wood plank back. Be sure to the look at the original eBay listing to view many photos, including the frame itself (which is cropped in the images shown here). The print is about 8-5/8" x 11-3/4".

Broken shackles at his feet and hHat in hand, a freed slave kneels before Abraham Lincoln, thanking him for his freedom. Lincoln himself gestures toward heaven, as if perhaps to say that it is the will of God that slaves be freed.

 

1860 Presidential Campaign: Lincoln Hamlin Jugate

Jugates are made up of two side-by-side portraits, usually of a presidential and a vice-presidential candidate. Jugates can be on campaign pins, posters, or other materials. The rare Lincoln Hamlin jugate now listed on eBay is from the 1860 presidential campaign. It's printed on a 3-1/4" x 4-1/4" card published by Henry F. Granger & Co. of Boston, Massachusetts.

see the original eBay listing

This political jugate featuring Abraham Lincoln of Illinois and Hannibal Hamlin of Maine will be listed on eBay until February 24, 2011. With three days to go, six bids have moved the current price to $455. [Update: This auction ended at $3,738.]

 

Artist's Proof Engraving: Lincoln Reads the Emancipation Proclamation to His Cabinet

"Finally, came the week of the battle of Antietam. I determined to wait no longer. The news came, I think, on Wednesday, that the advantage was on our side. I was then staying at the Soldier's Home (three miles out of Washington). Here I finished writing the second draft of the preliminary proclamation; came up on Saturday; called the Cabinet together to hear it, and it was published the following Monday."

That's Abraham Lincoln's account of his reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet, as told in F. B. Carpenter's account of his staying at the White House to capture this historic moment on canvas, Six Months at the White House.

A signed original 1866 artist's proof engraving of this reading of the Emancipation Proclamation failed to meet the reserve price on eBay on August 14, 2009. The highest bid received was $2,125. It is now for sale on eBay as a Buy It Now for $2,250.

see the original listing on eBay

Francis Bicknell Carpenter painted "The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation" in 1864. Thereafter, he commissioned Alexander Hay Ritchie to make an engraving of the painting. The eBay listing notes this about the painting itself:

The positioning of the Cabinet members betrays their political positions: Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton were early supporters of the proclamation and were therefore placed closer to the President. Carpenter placed the more conservative members of the Cabinet farther to Lincoln's left. The moment depicted in the engraving is just after President Lincoln has completed reading the proposed Emancipation Proclamation to the Cabinet and Secretary of State William H. Seward is counseling that it not be issued until the Union can claim some success on the battlefield.

The original artist's proof listed on eBay is an engraving on paper, 28-1/2" x 38-1/2"; image is, 21" x 32"; framed dimensions are 34-3/4" x 44-3/4". It is signed in the bottom corners: "F. B. Carpenter" and "A. H. Ritchie."

 

Abraham Lincoln was the first subscriber for a signed, artist's proof of the engraved version, but he did not live to receive it. Instead, when it was published in early 1866, the first signed, artist's proof was presented to Mary Lincoln. It now hangs in Robert Todd Lincoln's study at Hildene, in Manchester, Vermont.

Carpenter's original painting now hangs in the U.S. Capitol, outside of the Senate Chamber.

Abraham Lincoln "Link to Lincoln" Batman Card

There is more to Lincoln on sports cards than I thought. I recently wrote about a really great baseball card made by Upper Deck (2008 SP Legendary Cuts "Hair Cut Signatures" card). The card featured the full signature of Abraham Lincoln (not the abbreviated "A. Lincoln" that Lincoln commonly scribed), as well as a cutting of his hair.

I just discovered a 1966 Batman card depicting Batman in front of the Lincoln Memorial. It's the A & BC Batman "Link to Lincoln" series A #17A card, now on sale on eBay for $160 (PSA 9).

see original eBay listing

If you've seen the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight, you know that Abraham Lincoln was suspected to be Batman.

The real scoop, though, is on artist retoyman's blog. Click the picture below to go to his blog to see a really nice image. I've deliberately put a small one here to encourage you to click through to his blog.

 

(I bought a Lincoln painting from him and really like it. Retoyman sells on eBay from time to time.)

CDV Photos of Abraham Lincoln, Robert Lincoln, and Willie Lincoln

Carte de Visite photographs, commonly called CDVs, are albumen prints mounted on cards that were commonly exchanged by people in the 19th century. They followed the era of daguerreotype and ambrotype photographs. The American Museum of Photography says, "[The Carte de Visites] became so widespread that by 1863 Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes would write, 'Card portraits, as everybody knows, have become the social currency, the "green-backs" of civilization.'"

Several eBay listings featuring a nice collection of CDV photos are now available, with eight days to go at the time of this post. All are listed by seller upperlevelantiques, who acquired them as part of Lincoln memorabilia collection purchased at a small country auction.

The first is affordable for every budget--at least right now. It's a lot of 6 Abraham Lincoln CDVs; the current price is $23. The listing contains some very nice photo closeups of each CDV. [Update: Bidding ended June 15 at $153.]

see original eBay listing

The second is a CDV of Abraham Lincoln from a circa 1862 photograph by famed Lincoln photographer, Matthew Brady. The current price is $78. [Update: With two days to go, the price was $609. Bidding ended June 15 at $1,174.]

see original eBay listing

The third is a CDV of William Wallace Lincoln, known as Willie. This photograph is also by Matthew Brady. The current price is $480. With more than a week of bidding to go, it will be interesting to see the final price this CDV fetches. [Update: With two days to go, the price was a buck shy of $900. Bidding ended June 15 at $2,550.]

see original eBay listing

The fourth and final CDV is one of Robert Todd Lincoln, the only Lincoln son to live to adulthood. This photograph is also a Brady photo. The current price is $152. [Update: With two days to go, the price was $809. Bidding ended June 15 at $1,625.]

see original eBay listing

Each listing has a nice close-up. The seller did a nice job with photos of these CDV (including shots of the back sides), so the listings are worth looking at.

Emancipation Proclamation Art

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was printed in a variety of ways, including several that were nice pieces of art. The text of the Emancipation Proclamation is quite dry--it was a legal document, after all. But this print now on eBay is a great example of how the text itself can become a beautiful thing in an artist's hands.

See the original eBay listing

[April 15, 2009 update: This item did not sell at its listed start price of $395. The seller has relisted the item again, with a start price of $375.]

Much like the photo mosaics of today, the face of Abraham Lincoln emerges from the caligraphy of the text itself.

I recently admired a print like this in a museum. I can't recall whether it was the Lincoln Museum formerly in Ft. Wayne, IN, or at the Lincoln Shrine in Redlands, CA.

The seller of this print says it's an original. He's also including the 1905 newspaper he found in the frame.

Lincoln and Tad CDV Photo

A CDV of Abraham Lincoln and his son Tad is currently listed on eBay. Scheduled to end on February 13, the price at the time of this post is now up to $200. This was from Lincoln's February 5, 1865, sitting in Alexander Gardner's studio.

See the original eBay listing

Tad Lincoln, born April 4, 1853, was not quite 12 years old at the time of this photo. President Lincoln would be martyred about 60 days later.