after Samuel M. Fassett [Abraham Lincoln]

George Wister Hodge Ritchie (1857-1929) after a photograph by Samuel M. Fassett.  [Abraham Lincoln].  

Ca. 1885.  Private plate.  5 x 3 ¾ (image).  Mezzotint engraving on chine appliqué by G. W. H. Ritchie.  Rare.  Couple of stains in right hand margin.  Crease in top right corner.  Else, very good condition.  Ref: Truesdell, Engraved and Lithographed Portraits of Lincoln, 1933.   #8.14.

This print is after a photograph of Lincoln taken by Samuel M. Fassett on October 4, 1859.  Lincoln sat for this portrait in Chicago at the gallery of Cooke and Fassett.  Cooke later said in 1865 that Mary Lincoln stated it was the best likeness of her husband.  Unfortunately, the negative was lost in the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.  This print was privately issued by the artist and was not sold for commercial purposes, so most likely not many prints were made.