Description

Original steel engraving plate by William Edgar Marshall after his painting of President Abraham Lincoln. The engraving depicts a head and shoulders portrait of Lincoln in a black coat and bow tie. The portrait is surrounded by an oval oakleaf and floral border. Below the oval is a rectangular block with the name "Abraham Lincoln" reversed. The profile of Lincoln and the caption are within a larger, textured, rectangular border. See the following ID numbers for examples of prints done from this engraving plate: 71.2009.081.0178, 71.2009.081.0244, and 71.2009.081.2341. For more information about this print, see "Lincoln Lore" number 591, August 5, 1940. Also see "The Lincoln Image" by Holzer, Boritt, and Neely, pages 211-214. William Edgar Marshall (1837-1906) was born in New York. He began his career as an engraver by engraving decorative pocketwatch covers while still a teenager. Marshall studied in France during the Civil War and returned to the U. S. in 1865 after which he began his painting of Abraham Lincoln. The subsequent print adaptation of the painting published by Ticknor & Fields was very favorably regarded by critics as well as those who had known Lincoln. Part of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum