1860's Abe Lincoln Family Photo-Photography Experts Opinions

[Hankphenom]

Either a wonderful period piece or made to look like a wonderful period piece. What were the circumstances of purchase?

[rand1com]

Purchased from an auction house who just described it as an1860’s photo. Looked neat so I took a chance. I do not think it was made to look old. I think it is old but is it 160 years old or 80 years old?

[aelefson]

Hi-

I googled the title of the item in quotation marks and added the word print outside of the marks. I found a CDV of your image and the owner of it said that the CDV came from a steel engraving. I then searched with the title in quotes and then the word steel engraving and I found a few. I think that is what you have but I am not 100% certain.

https://the-antiqueology.myshopify.c...teel-engraving

Alan

[prewarsports]

Photography gets tricky from that era because it was actually easier to make a photograph from a print than to mass produce a print in many ways.

If an artist makes an engraving or wood cut, there generally is only one way to reproduce it. If a photographer takes a photograph of the engraving, he now has a glass plate he can take back to his studio, send in the mail to a friend or business partner, and he can now make unlimited copies of the engraving. You see this often in the Civil War era and through the 1870's.

It is likely a mounted photograph of an engraving for the purposes of mass production. The mount and paper appear to be vintage to the 1860's or early 1870's.

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

Photography gets tricky from that era because it was actually easier to make a photograph from a print than to mass produce a print in many ways.

If an artist makes an engraving or wood cut, there generally is only one way to reproduce it. If a photographer takes a photograph of the engraving, he now has a glass plate he can take back to his studio, send in the mail to a friend or business partner, and he can now make unlimited copies of the engraving. You see this often in the Civil War era and through the 1870's.

It is likely a mounted photograph of an engraving for the purposes of mass production. The mount and paper appear to be vintage to the 1860's or early 1870's.

Thanks for the thorough answer. Makes sense. Does this item have any value since it looks to date to the original time period but as you said could have been mass produced at that time or is it just a wall hanging?

[jbsports33]

The frame itself has value as well, the print would need to be looked at and compared to other paper from 1860s/1870s. Not seeing it in person is tough to evaluate, not sure of the size or anything. I have seen many engravings and lithographs just cut and framed from books - so do a bit of research first. Match the paper from an old book, if the paper is thicker and is stronger than maybe you have something specific that the frame could have been created for. This certainly would give you more value than just a cut from the book, see how it fits within the frame and how the paper was cut. Good luck!

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by jbsports33

The frame itself has value as well, the print would need to be looked at and compared to other paper from 1860s/1870s. Not seeing it in person is tough to evaluate, not sure of the size or anything. I have seen many engravings and lithographs just cut and framed from books - so do a bit of research first. Match the paper from an old book, if the paper is thicker and is stronger than maybe you have something specific that the frame could have been created for. This certainly would give you more value than just a cut from the book, see how it fits within the frame and how the paper was cut. Good luck!

Thanks for the info.