Death of Abraham Lincoln.

After Lincoln’s assassination, Northern families often displayed in their homes lithographic prints of the man they believed to be the savior of their nation. This print depicts one of the most popular scenes commemorating the late President – his deathbed in the Petersen House. Around 90 people came throughout to pay their respects to Lincoln before he passed on the morning of April 15, 1865. Although the room only measured about 10 by 17 feet, the lithographer has taken the artistic liberty of distorting the space to include 18 mourners gathered around Lincoln for his final moments, including Edwin Stanton and Charles Sumner. The stretching of the bedroom in prints to accommodate as many prominent figures as possible has been referred to as the “rubber room phenomenon.” A key at the bottom of the illustration identifies each person in the room, including a young boy listed as “Young Petersen,” who was not actually present at the event. Deathbed scenes of Lincoln became so desired in the years after his assassination that printers became more concerned with meeting popular demand than depicting the reality of the President’s final moments.

This print was produced by the Hartford, Connecticut lithographic firm of E.B. & E.C. Kellogg. Edmund Burke Kellogg and Elijah Chapman Kellogg were younger brothers of the founder of the Kellogg lithography firm, Daniel Wright Kellogg. After Daniel Wright Kellogg moved west, his two brothers took over the family lithography firm in 1840 and changed the name to E.B. & E.C. Kellogg. They were responsible for the continued success of the family firm and involved in partnerships with Horace Thayer in 1846-47, John Chenevard Comstock in 1848 and William Henry Bulkeley in 1867.

George Whiting worked as the agent and distributor of the Kellogg brothers’ prints in New York from 1848 to 1860. In 1860, the Kelloggs closed their New York office and Whiting took over the firm, selling prints until his death two years later.

Currently not on view