Could this be a new discovery of an original Daguerreotype of the young Abraham Lincoln?
A newly discovered Daguerreotype was found by Justin Whiting of, Norwich Norfolk the United Kingdom, could be a new photographic piece in Abraham Lincoln’s historic life story.
Purchased on Ebay from a power seller of Daguerreotypes Justin was sure it reminded him of someone. He’d been searching for an image like this for some time. In his mind, it could be no one else other than a young Abraham Lincoln!
Was it? Could it be? At a casual glance, there is a good resemblance.
Daguerreotype of young Abraham Lincoln. Shown to scale.
He set about the process verifying the image by asking American museums if they were willing to help identify the man in the image.
Abraham Lincoln in his late 30’s (left). Could this be a new discovery of an original Daguerreotype of the young Abraham Lincoln?
Images get flipped and the face points in different directions and then get flipped. Why? Because sometimes you see the mirror image of Abe as he was captured on the Daguerreotypes and sometimes these images have been flipped to show the image as it would be if you were looking straight at him. In this case, it is possible that the mole is on the right side of the left face.
The Find: Justin has always had a great interest in finding photographs of famous historical figures from America.Ā He was taking his daily browse through “carte de visite” or visiting cards on eBay but got distracted by some daguerreotypes. He saw an interesting picture titled “1/6 daguerreotype tinted blue 1840ās”. Justin purchased the item from the e-seller āsalvatorparadiseā,Ā on 29/06/2011 for about $140.
The Daguerreotype showed an extremely tall man in a fine suit. He did some research and found matching physical details to Abraham Lincoln like the height and body build, the way his eyes sat differently.Ā In the reference photographs, Justin noticed Abraham Lincoln has some defining features like the large bump on his right cheek, his left eye socket was higher than the right. These all matched, even his nose and lips. Abraham Lincoln had a thin top lip and a fat bottom lip, the same seemed to be the case in the Daguerreotype.
From left Sketch, Newly discovered Abraham Lincoln Daguerreotype, Oil Painting, facial cast
He went on to discover other matching features such as Lincolns very different ears, the left side was slightly higher than the right. He also had other features such as his jaw buckled in, on the low right side and his right eye drifted towards his nose, the condition was called āstrabismusā. It was these matching features that made him believe he was looking at a Young Abraham Lincoln. The final clue was the suit he was wearing, which was completely in keeping with Lincolns occupation as a Lawyer.
The stormy faced scholar. At the same time, there was an auction going for another daguerreotype by the same seller which he missed but managed to contact the buyer. This second image appears to be a younger Reverend Owen Lovejoy 1840. “ā stormy faced scholar”. He contacted the buyer who was a bit reluctant to sell it as it had been cleaned at a considerable cost. After haggling on the phone Justin managed to obtain the photograph as well. He already knew Owen Lovejoy was a dear friend to Lincoln and that he used to read the bible to Lincoln regularly at his home. The photograph was not in the best of shape even after it was cleaned as the seals are missing. This meant it had oxidised and darkened slowly over time. The facial features are still visible as is the hairline which seems to be a very accurate match to Reverend Owen Lovejoy. The open book in the photo which symbolises the Bible as it an open book. Justin believes he is making a statement that this is his passion, he is a reverend and a preacher of the Bible.
Reverend Owen Lovejoy
American’s uninterested. After buying both daguerreotypes Justin contacted some museums in America to present his findings. He was excepting some very positive responses. Instead, he was shunned by one museum saying it was not Lincoln and looked nothing like him. They offered no further explanation other than “his hair looks ridiculous”.Ā He soon realised It was not going to be easy, the American museums were very dismissive, with an attitude of,Ā here we go another picture claiming to be Lincoln, “we get loads” they said.
Undeterred Justin decided to hunt for someone who can offer a more scientific investigation to match the facial features. The scientific road now appears to be the only answer. He has started proceedings with the facial recognition process. He asked me to help put this blog together to the message out there if anyone can help.
Only a personal opinion – Why I featured this on my blog?
An interesting story to feature. The ear print cannot be denied, they do look very similar! Ears are unique or so The National Training Centre for Scientific Support to Crime Investigation NTCSSCI says .”no two ears are exactly the same”.
Nowhere do I claim this “is” Abe, and I am only reporting the story. Justin was convinced that the image was Abe, he invested much of his time trying to prove it. This story did not end here. Search the web for what happened next and how just a bit of newspaper style reporting can get a little out of hand.
Sources Ear printsĀ – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/246713.stm
As someone that identifies dags professionally, there is really no resemblance here. Also Lincoln was one of the most photographed people of the first 100 years of photography. We have several survival daguerreotypes of Lincoln throughout his mid to late 30s (the alleged age of him in the presented case) and it looks nothing like him at any time.
The article is reporting on behalf of the gentle man who believed it was him. Thanks for reading!
The man next to Lincoln is not Lincoln himself. You can tell by the eyes, eyebrows, forehead, heir line, noise, chin and ears. Plus, Lincoln like to be clean shaved up until his presidential days.
Very intriguing. At first glance, I thought this looked nothing like Lincoln. When you get down to matching details however, there is nothing that immediately disqualifies it. The ears are uncanny. Too bad those sideburns are blocking our view of the lobes. Eyes and ears are uneven, brow ridges the same as Lincoln’s. He is a much younger man and not as gaunt as in his Presidential years but you can still see the prominent cheekbones and chin line.
I think that we are used to seeing Lincoln in his later years. There was always a look of tired kindness in his eyes that is missing from the younger photo, which would stand to reason. That’s what made me initially dismiss this as a photo of Lincoln until I took a closer look.
Good luck with the endeavor. This could actually be him!
Thanks for stopping by. You are right the look may change over time. A sparkle may go sour when certain bad events take place…
This is a bit tricky to make an initial judgment over. At first glance, they don’t look like the same man, but when specific traits are isolated, there seems to be a match.
I find the face bones a good match and the ears and eyes but the nose i have trouble with. In fact i have trouble with Lincolns own nose portrayed in photos. It is always very flat bottomed whereas the sculptures show a slight dropping to the end?
I don’t think this looks like him at all. Disappointed about that. It would have been cool, but it’s not him.
New data arriving here soon, the owner of the photos has more information and data backing up these photos. I hope to post and update as soon as i get the details… stay tuned!
Interesting that one on Owen Lovejoy. He and his siblings were my 2nd cousins 5x removed. You might want to look at photos of Owen family members to help make a decision. If it is a young Owen Lovejoy of Albion, Maine, then that is quite a find!
Lincoln would have been about 49 years old in this picture if its helpful. It was taken in 1858. This site has a couple others as well to compare with – also with different stages of beard growth which might tell something. I think daugerretype came to the states in the 1840’s. The image featured here… doesn’t seem like Lincoln to me. A hard-working poor farmer turned lawyer… seems he would have done his hair before having his picture taken. Also, Lincoln seems to have preferred the clean-shaven look before Grace got to him.
I am still waiting for the update from the owner of the photo as to where we stand with the identification. In my opinion this image is of a younger man featured before even any “recorded” images were taken, or at least all the ones that have been thrust in our faces and shown him how society wants us to see him, In all the “recorded” images of Lincoln, he is seen as very guant, here he is perhaps more youthful, less weathered and more “cocky” and not yet a refined gentleman he was to become. IMHO
Yes Megan. Further down the comments i have mentioned that this is exactly what is happening now š
If he feels strongly about this, he needs to hire a forensic artist (as I did with the Annie Moore of Ellis Island photo) to conduct a thorough and objective analysis. Should also have hands compared, as they can be telling.
Tricky to accept i know but ear prints dont lie. His ear right ear shadow seems to match perfectly. If i didnt id be dubious. Ive yet to see another ear match in other examples…
I do not know, but nothing in the left image seems quite to fit, and overall it just does not match. Don’t think it’s Lincoln, but an altogether weaker character!
As we speak this is being forensically identified. Moles do not appear untill later life 40’s onwards I can vouch for this. Things start appearing where there werent any before. Or small bumps turn into larger ones. Should this be identified as him I will of course post the results here!
Plucking can change eyebrow lines and plucked hairs don’t grow back, also ageing presumably changes eyebrows but I don’t think these photos show the same man’s eyebrows.
Due to their restricted use and expense, daguerrotypes show mainly white Anglo-Saxon men and women of the middle and upper classes. There is a broad generic similarity due to the racial profile of sitters and prevailing fashions.
Lookalikes are a popular subject in the media and sometimes resemblances can be extraordinary. There used to be a seller at a local car boot sale I visited who was a ringer for Princess Diana; only the setting was unconvincing.
Except for the eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, chin, and jaw, the faces are identical.
He has about as much of a resembalance to Lincoln as he does Micky Mouse.
yo are crazy, where is lincoln’s mole?