c. 1869 Abraham Lincoln Mammoth Size Steel Plate Engraving by Henry Gugler

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Early American History Auctions - December 20...

By Early American History Auctions

Dec 20, 2025

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• Lot Description
  Abraham Lincoln Related
  c. 1869 at its time the Largest "LINCOLN" Engraving Made Abraham Lincoln Steel Plate Engraving by Henry Gugler
  c. 1869 Mammoth Size Steel Plate Engraving titled, "LINCOLN" of President Abraham Lincoln, measuring 23" x 29.5", Largest "LINCOLN" Engraving Made, engraved by Henry Gugler (taking two years of his labor), (printed by William Pate & Company, New York), Choice Very Fine or better.
  A rarely encountered important Mammoth Size Engraved Print that was at its time The Largest Steel Plate Engraving of Abraham Lincoln ever yet produced. It measures 23" x 29.5", produced c. 1869 as printed in partially readable text below. The image has a sharp impression with full margins and excellent detail. Some paper thin loss noted to extreme outer margin edges from when removed from a prior framing, (which will not be seen once reframed for display). What appears to be a darker portion across the lower half is actually meant to be darker "as made". This same deeper contrast is exhibited and seen as recorded on all other examples previously encountered. This image is laid down onto a larger heavy paper mat measuring 24.25" x 33" from prior display. A powerful image of Lincoln, carried out by a master engraver who eventually opened his own printing business; first in New Jersey and later in Milwaukee. The title simply reads: "LINCOLN" shown located below the large central portrait image, within decorative oval surround. Shortly after Lincoln's assassination, many artists sought to commemorate the fallen President in paintings, statues, and other forms of portraiture.
  John H. Littlefield, a Presidential Campaign worker for Abraham Lincoln during the election of 1860, commissioned Henry Gugler, a well respected Vignette Engraver for the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing, to create this engraving from which commemorative prints could be sold. After two years of Gugler's labor, he had created the largest engraving of our Sixteenth President yet produced. This image was engraved on the two-by-three foot steel plate from which these prints were made. It captures the distinguished look of one of our nation's most cherished leaders. Still, it ranks as one of the largest, most impressive and the most desirable of Abraham Lincoln engraved line portraits ever produced on steel. The most recent example offered for sale we located was sold in a Midwest public auction in August 2019 selling then at $2,000. A great example for display due to its bold appearance and mammoth size, ready for framing.
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  "Johann Heinrich 'Henry' Gugler was born September 27th 1816 in Untertuerkheim, Wuerttemberg, Germany. At the age of fifteen he began an apprenticeship in the arts, specializing in metal engraving; he would become one of the top metal engravers in Germany.
  Henry Gugler immigrated to the United States in 1853 with his wife and six-year-old son Julius at the invitation of a fellow engraver who had earlier settled in this country. Gugler had studied art and had twenty-two years experience in metal engraving in Germany where he prepared book illustrations, zoological studies and city views. He found work with a New York firm specializing in bank note engraving.
  By the early 1860s he began working at the National Note Bureau, later the Federal agency known as the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C.. In 1863, the National Note Bureau of Engraving and Printing hired Henry as one of their first vignette engravers.
  While working for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C. he engraved the "The Pioneer" which appeared on the $5 and $20 United States bills. Henry Gugler's most famous engravings was his life size steel engraving of President Abraham Lincoln. This would be his most important work and was completed in 1869 after two years of work."
  
  
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