James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States, was the first sitting president to be photographed with surviving images.[1][a]
The daguerreotypes process was the primary form of photography through the 1840s, as Polk sat for Mathew Brady,John Plumbe, George Healy, Abel Shank among others.[2]
Of the confirmed daguerreotypes of Polk, there are four known physical original daguerreotypes, three copies, with one disputed amongst historians.
Known original daguerreotypes
editOf the 7 confirmed daguerreotypes of James K. Polk there are four known originals.
Portrait | Photographer | Date | Current Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Attributed to | 1846-1848 | President James K. Polk Home & Museum | ||
Attributed to | 1846 | President James K. Polk Home & Museum | Though this daguerreotypes is often consider a work by John Plumbe, Polk writes in his dairy about sitting for a daguerreotype with his cabinet for Healy also in 1846. | |
Attributed to | 1845-1846 | George Eastman Museum | ||
Attributed to | 1849 | Library of Congress |
Period copies
editThough the original daguerreotypes have been lost over time, surviving copies of original daguerreotypes have survived.
Portrait | Photographer | Date | Current Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Attributed to Mathew Brady | 1848-1849 | Nashville Public Library | ||
Attributed to | February 17th, 1849 | Private Collection | “The Cabinet met at the usual hour; all of the members present except the Secretary of War ... in consequence of indisposition. Before entering on any business the members of the Cabinet at my request accompanied me to the large dining room below stairs & set for their Daguerrotype likenesses. Mr. Brady, the artist, desired to take the Cabinet & myself in a group and did so.”[3] | |
Unknown | 1845-1849 | Missouri Historical Society |
Disputed
editOne images suggested to be James K. Polk is debated amongst historians. The James K. Polk Project, President James K. Polk Home & Museum, nor the White House Historical Association believe it to be him, while American historians Amy Greenberg and William Polk do.
Portrait | Photographer | Date | Current Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Unknown | Possibly 1849 | Amon Carter Museum of American Art |
Notes
edit- ^ William Henry Harrison is believed to have sit for one on the day of his inauguration, though it has been lost over time.
References
edit- ^ "National First Ladies Timeline". archive.firstladies.org. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
- ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=yqK2iJaPYKkC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=Abel+Shank+photographer&source=bl&ots=KoYLbElmWr&sig=ACfU3U03_qrfzGtjwi2zC1agsvZTNPADjA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiV4Lvvz_7lAhVLXKwKHXHeAIYQ6AEwAHoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=daguerreotype&f=false.
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