Can anyone identify the photographer who took this photo of Abraham Lincoln?

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   Ralph Deedsposted 11 years ago

   Can anyone identify the photographer who took this photo of Abraham Lincoln?
   
   The inscription at the bottom of the photo says "Published and Copyright 1894, A.W. Elson & Co., Boston" but the photographer from whose picture the A.W. Elson photogravure was made is not identified. A.W. Elson is no longer in business.
   
   

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2. 0

   sheilamyersposted 11 years ago

   Because Lincoln is one of my favorite people to study, your question actually motivated me to do an internet search to see if I could find anything. One hit led me me to edinphoto.org.uk . A gentleman had a a picture of this posted and was asking basically the same question you did here. One of the respondents stated "We know that the original of this picture was painted by Eastman Johnson and hangs in a museum in Michigan." I can't guarantee that's the correct answer, but it was the only one I could find. When I did a further search for the paintings of Eastman Johnson, I couldn't find any other sites that had this particular picture or the original painting posted. I hope this helps at least a little bit.

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3. 60

   taburkettposted 11 years ago

   It was probably Alexander Hesler. 
   A similar photo can be found on http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008680253/
   Hesler did many of the Lincoln family photos.

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4. 50

   TheWizardofWhimsyposted 11 years ago

   Ralph, it looks to me to be a photogravure based on a photo by Samuel Montegue Fassett.  The photogravurist took some liberties with tonal range and simplifying the form.
   
   http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3 … 10368r.jpg
   
   Info Here: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2009630657/

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      TheWizardofWhimsyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Incidentally, if you download the larger oval version of that photo (a 27 meg tiff file), you will see that the photograph has also been altered (with a pen and ink I assume) to beef up the darker values around and in the eyes of the sitter.

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