posted on 10 Jul 2024

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address with designs by James Daugherty

It somehow feels entirely appropriate, in this year when the USA stands on the edge of what might be its most significant Presidential election for a generation, that I should stumble across this extraordinary 1947 publication that showcases the iconic Gettysburg Address by the legendary Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln’s words from the November of 1863 were spoken as a tribute to those who had died on the battlefield of Gettysburg – won by the Union forces and widely seen as the turning point in the bloody Civil War. In his short foreword, James Daugherty expresses his admiration for the power and integrity of Lincoln’s short speech on that day:

“Eighty years and more have passed since Lincoln spoke so briefly under a gray November sky in 1863, standing beside the newly buried dead on that field of bitter victory. His words have become a lasting testament of sorrow and dedication for all battlefields.”

Clearly, Lincoln’s address will resonate most strongly with an American audience and while the essential humanity of the words is universal, it’s the extraordinary artwork in this book that will stop you in your tracks.

So, who was the artist? I have to confess that Daugherty (1889 – 1974) was a new name to me and, although he was also a children’s book author and illustrator, I’ve never before come across any of his work. What you’ll spot immediately from the illustration in this book, Daugherty was – I suspect first and foremost - also a painter of murals. He’s brought that almost cinematic sweep and richly coloured narrative structure off the wall and onto the page in the most arresting fashion. 

Portions of the speech appear in a sort of monumental calligraphy below scenes of representative action and figures that reach out in almost three dimensions. This, it feels, is public art – Lincoln made into the great hero and a people, noble and unbowed, fighting for a fair and dignified United States. As the book jacket back panel puts it:

“The sixteen panels give Americans, and especially young Americans, an exciting picture-story of our people’s history and the great adventure of democracy dominated by the central figure of Lincoln as the genius of the common man.”

Daugherty might be a name familiar to some students of art in the UK because he did spend some time in England studying in London under the great Welsh artist, Frank Brangwyn. However, come the First World War he was commissioned to do a series of propaganda posters for various US government departments – and I think that experience shows up clearly here too.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this isn’t a book its easy to get hold of in the UK but copies can be found in the US – however the price escalates because of shipping costs. It seems I was just lucky to light on this copy – so maybe you just need to keep your eyes open and be patient if you want one at a sensible price.

 

Terry Potter

July 2024