Lincoln Abraham Art!

The very statesman-like Lincoln in London's Trafalgar Square:
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The very statesman-like Lincoln in London's Trafalgar Square:

Manchester, England, also has a statue of Lincoln, erected in honor of Lincoln's gratitude to the people of Manchester for supporting the Union blockade of Southern ports. They did so despite the fact that the blockade prevented cotton from reaching England. Manchester, a mill town, was among many hard hit economically as a result. Mills closed, and many people were out of work. But cotton workers in Manchester joined with liberal politicians, in support for the cause of ending American slavery, to express strong support for the blockade nonetheless, countering the demands of mill owners in several cities who called for the Royal Navy to be sent to break the blockade. You can read the full story here.

This photo of the statue in Lincoln Square, Manchester, is one of several views on Waymarking.com.
 
Manchester, England, also has a statue of Lincoln, erected in honor of Lincoln's gratitude to the people of Manchester for supporting the Union blockade of Southern ports. They did so despite the fact that the blockade prevented cotton from reaching England. Manchester, a mill town, was among many hard hit economically as a result. Mills closed, and many people were out of work. But cotton workers in Manchester joined with liberal politicians, in support for the cause of ending American slavery, to express strong support for the blockade nonetheless, countering the demands of mill owners in several cities who called for the Royal Navy to be sent to break the blockade. You can read the full story here.

This photo of the statue in Lincoln Square, Manchester, is one of several views on Waymarking.com.
You beat me to it! I was planning to show that one next week.

That's the "Lincoln of the huge hands." Lincoln was often remarked as having very large hands, but they're not usually shown so prominently as in that sculpture. It's appropriate, in a way, since the monument represents the sincere admiration of honest laboring men.
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It was cast from the same mold as the statue in Lytle Park in Cincinatti.
 
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Here is Lincoln appearing in a different form of art, a poem by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author MacKinlay Kantor. (But, @chellers, would you please move it to a more appropriate thread if it belongs somewhere else.) You can read the entire poem, “Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg,” in Kantor’s book “Turkey in the Straw: A Book of American Ballads and Primitive Verse.”

The verses end with a few lines that portray Lincoln’s humanity as perceived by a dog:

“I was a dog of Gettysburg. I trotted near the train
And nosed among the officers, who kicked me to my pain.
A man came by. . . . I could not see. I howled.
The light was dim,
But when I brushed against his legs, I liked the smell of him.”​

I have no idea whether Kantor was familiar with this photograph of the crowd watching the parade to the dedication of Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg on Nov. 19, 1863, but I would like to think that he was inspired to write these few lines after gazing intently at this scene and discovering the little dog standing with the people on Baltimore Street that day.


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One of the most striking Lincoln portraits I've seen recently is this one by "word" artist Daniel Duffy. Lincoln's face is formed by the words of his Second Inaugural Address. The Address also serves as the background. (If you visit the artist's website, you can enter a drawing he's holding on Aug. 31 to give away a framed print of the portrait.)

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One of the most striking Lincoln portraits I've seen recently is this one by "word" artist Daniel Duffy. Lincoln's face is formed by the words of his Second Inaugural Address. The Address also serves as the background. (If you visit the artist's website, you can enter a drawing he's holding on Aug. 31 to give away a framed print of the portrait.)

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Very cool!
 
Here is Lincoln appearing in a different form of art, a poem by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author MacKinlay Kantor. (But, @chellers, would you please move it to a more appropriate thread if it belongs somewhere else.) You can read the entire poem, “Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg,” in Kantor’s book “Turkey in the Straw: A Book of American Ballads and Primitive Verse.”

The verses end with a few lines that portray Lincoln’s humanity as perceived by a dog:

“I was a dog of Gettysburg. I trotted near the train
And nosed among the officers, who kicked me to my pain.
A man came by. . . . I could not see. I howled.
The light was dim,
But when I brushed against his legs, I liked the smell of him.”​

I have no idea whether Kantor was familiar with this photograph of the crowd watching the parade to the dedication of Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg on Nov. 19, 1863, but I would like to think that he was inspired to write these few lines after gazing intently at this scene and discovering the little dog standing with the people on Baltimore Street that day.


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I noticed that the link to MacKinlay Kantor's book was no longer working consistently, so thanks to the Musselman Library's terrific microfilm collection, below is the poem as it appeared in The Gettysburg Times on Nov. 18, 1933, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address and the dedication of Soldiers' National Cemetery.


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'From the ridiculous ..."
Tim Burton's 2001 film "Planet of the Apes" included a visit to the "Lincoln Memorial"
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with the head of "Ape Lincoln" based on this sculpture by an un-named Holywood set designer:
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Wasn't it Salmon Chase who once referred to Lincoln as "the original ape" (referencing Darwin's recent Origin of the Species)? But Lincoln appointed him to the Cabinet anyways. Lincoln was anything but petty -- that's more than could be said for Chase.

This image fits a lot of period Confederate propaganda. Edited by Chellers, moderator.
 
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A banner used in Lincoln's first presidential campaign has been restored and returned to the Peoria Historical Society, thanks to a corporate donation from Caterpillar. It will go on display early next year. The scroll Lincoln carries in the banner's painting, below, reads "This is to certify that I have hired A. Lincoln for four years, from March 4th, 1861. U. SAm." Besides the scroll and briefcase, Lincoln carries an axe.

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Photo credit: Peoria Historical Society / Facebook
 
Well, "Art" as euphemism, perhaps:

Just off Route 66, in the city of Lincoln, Illinois, stands (sits) a 12 foot-tall fiberglass Abe Lincoln. He is seated in what is billed as "the world's largest covered wagon;" it is said to be 40 feet long, 12 feet wide and 24 feet tall!

The presence of this extraordinary example of American "Fine Art" is, of course, appropriate for a community named "Lincoln." Doubly so because of all the places named for our 16th president, this was the first: Lincoln, Ill. was named for Abraham Lincoln BEFORE he became president. It was in 1853, in fact, that the town was incorporated, and, for reasons that appear to be obscure, was named for the popular lawyer and former (not to mention future) politician. Abe had helped lay out the plots, and handled the legal paperwork for the incorporation. He also spoke at the ceremony, and personally christened the town by spilling watermelon juice on the ground. It is said that when the name was first proposed, he had advised against it, because "Nothing bearing the name of Lincoln ever amounted to much." (Abe fibbed.)
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Now, there is an all-American epic if there ever was one!
 
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We've seen so many stories recently of historically significant items being found tucked inside old books. Here's another: Two of Thomas Nast's first sketches of Lincoln, made in 1861, have been found in a Civil War notebook among the archives at Brown University. Nast made the sketches during Lincoln's stopover in New York while on his way from Springfield to Washington.
 
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