Description

Mr. Lincoln Sits for His Portrait is a unique middle-grade depiction of Americas sixteenth president, through the story of one famous photograph, written by award-winning author Leonard S. Marcus.

On February 9, 1864, Abraham Lincoln made the mile-long walk from the Executive Mansion to photographer Mathew Bradys Washington, DC, studio, to be joined there later by his ten-year-old son, Tad. With a fractious re-election campaign looming that year, Americas first media-savvy president was intent on securing another portrait that cast him in a favorable light, as he prepared to make the case for himself to a nation weary of war.

At least four iconic pictures were made that day. One was Lincoln in profile, the image that later found its way onto the penny; two more would be adapted for the 1928 and 2008 five-dollar bills. The fourth was a dual portrait of Lincoln and Tad. The pose, featuring Lincoln reading to his son, was a last-minute improvisation, but the image that came of it wasand remainsincomparably tender and enduringly powerful.

Immediately after the presidents murder the following year, the picture of Lincoln reading to his son became a mass-produced icona cherished portrait of a nations fallen leader, a disarmingly intimate record of a care-worn fathers feeling for his child, and a timeless comment on books as a binding force between generations.

Author: Leonard S. Marcus
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Published: 01/03/2023
Pages: 128
Weight: 1.34lbs
Size: 9.25h x 6.25w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9780374303488
Language: English