Abraham Lincoln: Frederick H. Meserve

World-renowned collector of Lincoln and Civil War-era photography (1865–1962), remembered for compiling a catalog of known Lincoln images. ANS signed “F. H. Meserve,” one page, 8.5 x 11, July 8, 1941. Meserve replies to Civil war collector Arnold F. Gates of Cleveland, writing at the foot of a letter asking "if any of the Lincoln photographers were from Ohio." He writes, in full: "So far as I know, Lincoln was never photographed in Ohio." In fine condition.
Out of the 130 known photographs of Abraham Lincoln, the majority of them were taken between ca. 1846-1860 in Illinois. Locations in the state where Lincoln was photographed include Springfield, Chicago, Danville, Peoria, Beardstown, Urbana, Macomb, Pittsfield, Monmouth, and Decatur. Lincoln was also photographed in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Antietam, Maryland. One portrait dating from ca. 1858 may have ties to Ohio, but they are unclear. The daguerreotype depicting a bust portrait of Lincoln was from the personal collection of a Parma, Ohio Union soldier, and was later found in the papers of Cleveland collector Anthony L. Maresh.

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