[Lincoln, Abraham] "Draner":

ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR PENCIL ILLUSTRATION OF LINCOLN STANDING IN FRONT OF A CAFE BAR. LINCOLN WEARS A SUIT AND TOP HAT, AN APRON AROUND HIS WAIST. ON THE BAR, PARTLY OBSCURED BY HIS LEGS, ARE THE WORDS "KIRKLA[ND] BAR." BELOW THE ILLUSTRATION IS THE CAPTION "12 - L'AMERICAIN EST PRET ICI BAS A TOUT FAIRE OTEZ LE TABLIER, VOU AUREZ UN NOTAIRE."

[Paris: c.1867]. Broadside, 7.75" x 10.5." Verso's top edge glued to a studio mat board with raised imprint, 'Dusaco, Paris.' This elegant, original illustration is meticulously hand colored, with caption in ink manuscript. Signed DRANER. Fine.

This original drawing was later issued as lithograph No. 12 of Draner's "TYPES DESSINES SUR NATURE A L'EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE DE 1867" [Types Drawn on Nature at the Universal Exposition of 1867]. The caption, suggesting the American "can-do-spirit," translates to "The American is ready here to do anything. Take off the apron, you will have a notary."
The illustration looks like Lincoln, the iconic self-made American man, although neither it nor contemporary commentary identifies him by name. The reference to "Kirkland" suggests Charles P. Kirkland, a New York lawyer and Lincoln ally during the Civil War. Kirkland's published pamphlet defended Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation as a justifiable exercise of his war powers.
The artist 'Draner' was Jules Jean Georges Renard [1833-1926], a Belgian cartoonist who had settled in Paris. Draner is the anagram of his surname. He provided caricatures and cartoons to "some of the most important illustrated satirical and news periodicals of the era..." ["Jules Draner", Prints, Drawings & Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library website.]. Item #38503

Price: $1,500.00