The Photographs of Abraham Lincoln - by Peter Kunhardt (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

First published in 1911, The Photographs of Abraham Lincoln was privately printed by Frederick Hill Meserve, the preeminent historian of the photographs of Abraham Lincoln. It was a groundbreaking look at the then-known photographs of the sixteenth president of the United States, who was the first president to be photographed while in office. In the decades that followed, Meserve made new discoveries and updated the information that was known about each image. He published an expanded edition in 1944, collaborating with the Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg. This new work, published on the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's death, is an update to Meserve's original biographical documentation, and includes 114 portraits. Here we see Lincoln's striking face, photographed over a span of 20 years (1846-65). Published with the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation, this new iteration of The Photographs of Abraham Lincoln reflects not only Meserve's pioneering research, but the work of the many Lincoln scholars who followed in his footsteps and the work of five generations of Meserve's family who advanced his scholarship. The new volume is edited by Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., the executive director of the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation, who brings his expertise on Lincoln, having previously coauthored two titles on the president. This new edition of The Photographs of Abraham Lincoln is an essential and intimate collection of portraits of the legendary president, and an important volume for American archival and photographic history.

Review Quotes

The story of his family's devotion to Lincoln is the subject of "Living With Lincoln," a documentary that premieres tonight on HBO. It coincides with "The Photographs of Abraham Lincoln," an impressive -- and imposing -- photo book published by Steidl and the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation. Yet intertwined with American history is his family's own history, a take born not of great deeds, but of a great need: a son wanting to reconnect with his father.--David Gonzalez "The New York Times"