said: "It is unusual in general construction. It has a new and interesting character and its planes are remarkably beautiful and subtle. If it belongs to any type, it must be a wonderful specimen of that type.' 9924 Frêmiet, the great sculptor, said: "It seems impossible that a new country like yours should produce such a face. It is unique." This great and learned artist, without any previous knowledge of Lincoln's physical form and guided by the mask, described Lincoln's proportions and movements accurately, and said to Mr. Bartlett, "You have in hand a wonderfully interesting subject. I envy you."25 All the French sculptors to whom Bartlett showed the lifemask “admired it for the harmony of the face with itself. Not one of them mentioned any ugliness, coarseness or flabbiness of form." The best French genre sculptor of modern times, after experimenting with the mask for several months, returned it to Mr. Bartlett and said: “I can do nothing with that head, and I doubt if any one in these times can. The more I studied it the more difficulties I found. The subtle character of its forms is beyond belief. There is no face like it."25 Photography is quite as clear and unequivocal as is sculpture in declaring that Abraham Lincoln's features were beautiful and pleasing. His earliest picture is a Daguerreotype taken in 1848 when he was thirty-nine years old. When that picture was first published it produced a profound impression. In all our country and in Europe it was declared to be "the picture of a very handsome man." That judgment has never been reversed nor modified. The picture has the Lincoln features without any of the marks of severe struggles which are seen in later pictures. The features are regular and harmonious and reveal great kindness of heart and strength of purpose. It holds the attention and leaves a vivid and deep impression. It continues to hold its place in public esteem and admiration. In 1856 Mr. Lincoln visited Princeton, Illinois, for the 24 Portraits of Lincoln, p. 20. 25 Ibid., p. 21. purpose of delivering a Fourth of July oration. He was, while in that city, the guest of Mr. John Howard Bryant, brother of William Cullen Bryant, the distinguished poet and journalist. During that visit at Princeton, Mr. Lincoln called at the McMasters Studio and sat for his picture, a copy of which was recently presented to me by Mrs. W. E. McVey of Los Angeles, California, a granddaughter of John Howard Bryant. This photograph was taken by the nephew of McMasters who on the Fourth of July, 1856, took the original picture from life. As far as known, this is the only picture we have of Lincoln taken during 1856. Mr. McMasters certifies to the genuineness of this picture and to the foregoing facts concerning its origin. He states that his uncle, who took the original picture, frequently exchanged negatives with Hesler of Chicago which he believes accounts for the resemblance of this picture to one understood to have been taken by the Chicago photographer in 1857. The Hesler picture may have been copied from the one taken by McMasters the year before. It would be difficult to find a more inspiringly handsome picture than this McMasters photograph. It is a face of faultless structure with animation and high purpose radiating from every feature. It has all the beauty of the earlier picture with far more of character and confidence. Its lines are not deep as in his pictures taken during his Presidency but they form a combination of irresistible charm. It is scarcely less than a cruel travesty to speak or think of such a man as ungainly and awkward. The alertness shown in this picture is also seen in the photograph taken by Hesler in 1860 soon after Lincoln's nomination as a candidate for President. The great debates with Douglas in 1858, the Ohio speeches, the Cooper Institute address and the tour through New England all occurred between the periods when these two pictures were taken and are all written in his features in this Hesler photograph. These three pictures should be grouped with the Volk bust as they all represent Mr. Lincoln as he appeared when smooth shaven. FIRST PICTURE AS CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT Courtesy Century Company. LAST PICTURE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN From a photograph taken by H. F. Warren of Waltham, Courtesy Century Company. (See page 548) |