CDV on cardstock mount (stained/toned a sepia tint, spotting, soiling and wear/creasing to mount edges and corners). Credited to Anthony (publisher) and Brady (negative) on verso. Lincoln sits with one arm resting on a table next to him and the other on the arm of his chair. The table also holds an inkwell and top hat. Catalogued in Hamilton and Ostendorf as [O-51a].

This image was captured for Harper's Weekly during Lincoln's first sitting in Washington, DC. The President arrived to Brady's studio on or around 24 February 1861 after a long train journey during which he visited 7 states and met innumerable constituents. A friend of Brady's and a witness of the sitting, George H. Story recalls: "When I entered the room the President was seated in a chair wholly absorbed in deep thought....I said in an undertone to the operator, 'bring your instrument here and take the picture.'"