Death-Bed of Lincoln, April 15, 1865

Washington, D.C.: John H. Littlefield; Wm. Terry, Printer, 1866. Photograph by John Goldin of Littlefield's painting, on printed mount. 1 vols. Image 11 1/2 x 18 3/4 in.; mounted to 19 x 24 in. Soiling to image, vertical crease, large chips to bottom of mount, not affecting image or legend; good. Photograph by John Goldin of Littlefield's painting, on printed mount. 1 vols. Image 11 1/2 x 18 3/4 in.; mounted to 19 x 24 in. A published photograph of Littlefield's hyper-realistic Lincoln death-bed painting, each figure meticulously rendered from photographs. Littlefield studied law under Lincoln in 1858, stumped for him in his Presidential bid, and was (truncated) rewarded with a position in the Treasury Department. After Lincoln's death, Littlefield invented this tableau of twenty-five people ranged around the death-bed, including Vice-President Johnson, Surgeon Chalres Leale, and Mrs. Lincoln. "The artist used photographs as models for the twenty-five people gathered in the death room, but his profile of the dying Lincoln shows a first-hand acquaintance" (Ostendorf, LINCOLN'S PHOTOGRAPHS, p. 279). Provenance: Harper Family (Inventory #: 238120)