RARE 1928 PRINT OF A BEARDLESS ABRAHAM LINCOLN BY CHARLES W. NICKUM

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RARE 1928 PRINT OF A BEARDLESS ABRAHAM LINCOLN BY CHARLES W. NICKUM:
$1499.99

YOU ARE BUYING:

RARE 1928 PRINT OF A BEARDLESS ABRAHAM LINCOLN BY CHARLES W. NICKUM!
OVAL PRINT MEASURES 7 1/2\" X 9 1/2\" IN FRAME
ORIGINAL ANTIQUE OVAL FRAME MEASURES 14 1/4\" X 12 1/4\"
THIS WILL BE SHIPPED VIA INSURED, PRIORITY MAIL WITH PROFESSIONAL PACKING!
PLEASE READ THE BELOW TEXT FOR BACKGROUND CONTEXT REGARDING THIS RARE PRINT! IT TOOK A BIT OF RESEARCH TO FIND, BUT DOES PROVIDE AN ACCURATE BACKGROUND OF THE PRINT. THIS IS GENUINELY A RARE PRINT THAT YOU WON\'T FIND AT ALL ELSEWHERE - LET ALONE IN THE ORIGINAL FRAME!

March 5, 2000 LETTER FROM Maralyn Page of Aurora, CO to The Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, IN 46801:

Would you be interested in obtaining one of the original prints of the

Nickum Portrait of Lincoln painted on September 18 th , 1859. This was

one year before Abraham Lincoln\'s Presidency. The oddity of this

impression portrays Abraham Lincoln without a beard.

This print sold for $1.00. There were only 1,000 prints produced. The

$1.00 was a contribution to a fund for $1,000.00, the purchase price or

the original painting. I have enclosed a copy of the brochure that was

included in the purchase price. The print and brochure are both in mint

condition.

It seems that such a rare treasure proclaims an exhibit within a

historical collection of significance from that period. Should you have an

interest in purchasing this print, I would be glad to consider your offer.

The search for a print from a

daguerreotype of Abraham Lin-

coln made September 18, 1S59. by

Thomas Walker Cridland in Day-

ton has been, in a sense, suc-

cessful.

Recently, The Journal-Herald,

through its editorial columns,

made known that the Lincoln Na-

tional Life founda tion, Tort

Wayne, Ind, is interested in* lo-

cating- this daguerreotype. Scores

of ancient photographs were of-

fered but none was that sought.

Knows History.

Now, on Lincoln\'s birthday,

Cridland\'a grandson, Walter D.

McKinney, 94 Montrose Way,

Columbus, writes he has in his

possession a copy of a print from

the original negative.

Few of the paintings and photo-

graphs of Lincoln &how this great

man without the beard he wore

in later life. One of these rari-

ties exists in Dayton. It is the

famous Nickum portrait, painted

by the Dayton artists, Charles W.

Nickum, September 18, 1859 . . .

the day Lincoln delivered -a cam-

paign speech on the courthouse

steps and the same day Mr. Crid-

land photographed the future

president.

It is the Nickum painting which

is reproduced herewith. The paint-

ing now stands in the Dayton

public museum and is considered

among art connoisseurs as one of

the outstanding paintings of its

kind.

The story of Lincoln crossing

Main street from the courthouse

to Cridland\'s Daguerreotype gal-

lery, then over Edgar\'s grocery,

sat for his picture, and within the

same hour posed for the artist

Nickum, is not new to Daytonians.

As Lincoln posed, he said, in his

droll way, \"Keep on, you may

make a good one, but never a

pretty one.\"

Had rnoto Gallery.

Mr. McKinney writes: \"My

grandfather owned the photo-

graph gallery at that time at 12

North Main street, opposite the

courthouse, and Abraham Lincoln

made a speech from the court-

house steps, or, rather as it was

described to me by my grand-

father, from a box on the curb,

facing the steps.

\"My grandfather was intro-

duced to Mr. Lincoln by Mr. Sam-

uel Craighead, if I remember

rightly, and Lincoln accompanied

Mr. Cridland to the photographic

gallery, where at least two photo-

graphs were made, one from which

Mr. Nickum made his portrait.

\"The other negative or nega-

tives were destroyed about 1865

by fire in the attic of the gallery,

caused by the rays of a solar

camera. At the time, a large

number of negatives of prom-

inent persons of the Civil war

were destroyed at an enormous

loss.

\"However, before the negative

was destroyed a large number of

prints had been made and I have

in my possession a copy of a pho-

tograph which I have always

thoueht had been made from thp

original photograph taken by

Thomas W. Cridland.

Familiar With History

\"Inasmuch as I lived with my

grandfather from 1864 to 1884,

I was more or less familiar with

everything that transpired of an

unusual nature. I well remember

the destruction of the original

negative as was told over and

over again.\"

There is some .argument as to

the exact date of the sitting by

Mr. Lincoln. Some say it was Sep-

tember, 18, 1859. Date on the

Nickum portrait gives September

16, while Mr. McKinney writes:

\"This I believe to be an error as

Mr. Lincoln made an address in

Columbus the night of Septem-

ber 16, 1859, made an address in

Dayton on the 17th and in Cin-

cinnati that night.\"

Numerous requests to purchase

the Nickum painting were filed

with the artist by wealthy men

and women over the country. Still,

Mr. Nickum held on to his treas-

ure. There was no price put on

it . . . Mr. Nickum simply wanted

it for his own.

At Mr. Nickum\'s death, his

widow continued to cherish the

painting, and bequeathed it to the

Methodist Home in Lebanon,

where she later died.

As Dayton business men of the

Noon Tide club of Knights Tem-

plar gathered February 10, 1928,

the subject of the Nickum portrait

was again introduced. Like the

snowball rolling down hill, the

proposed movement to obtain the

painting for Dayton, gained mo-

mentum and size.

It resulted in the painting be-

ing borrowed from the Lebanon

Home, copied and printed in color

by Daytonians. These copies, of

which just 1,000 were made, sold

for one dollar each, and the $1,000

fund turned over to the Lebanon

Home in exchange for the paint-

ing.

Thus was the Nickum portrait

of Lincoln obtained for Dayton.