Home of Abraham Lincoln

Black and white print of a two-story wooden house on a street corner. A man (Abraham Lincoln?) and a child are standing inside the fence in front of the house. A carriage and men on horseback are in the street in the foreground and pedestrians walk along the street.

This undated, black and white print of Lincoln’s residence in Springfield, Illinois, was most likely created in the period of high public demand for Lincoln images around the time of his assassination, during which many Northerners felt a desire to display a representation of the man they believed to be the savior of their nation. Lincoln lived in this two-story, twelve-room home from 1844 to 1861. In the print, men on horseback, women with parasols, and a horse-drawn buggy pass all by the residence on the road. A beardless Abraham Lincoln and one his sons stand near the entrance to the home.

On February 6, 1861, about 700 friends, neighbors, and well-wishers came to his residence to bid him farewell before he left for Washington. Lincoln departed Springfield on February 11, 1861, for his inauguration, but would never return to this home alive. His oldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, donated the family home to the state of Illinois in 1887 and it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

Louis Prang (1824-1910) was born in Breslau, Prussian Silesia, and immigrated to America in 1850. Settling in Boston, he began his lithographic career in 1856, partnering with Julius Mayer. In 1860, he established his own firm, which grew to become one of the largest producers of American colored lithographs during the 19th century. The company’s first lithographic prints were Civil war battle scenes, maps, and portraits of military and political leaders. Louis Prang & Co. remained in operation until 1898, producing greeting cards, facsimiles of American and European paintings, and natural history prints. The print was published by S.G. Lane at 21 Cornhill.

Currently not on view