The Martyr of Liberty
date: label: Date made
content: n.d.
label: date made
content: ca 1865
name: label: depicted
content: Lincoln, Abraham
label: depicted
content: Booth, John Wilkes
label: depicted
content: Lincoln, Mary Todd
label: depicted
content: Harris, Clara
label: depicted
content: Rathbone, Henry Reed
label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: After Lincoln’s assassination, Northern families often displayed in their homes lithographic prints of the man they believed to be the savior of their nation. This hand colored commemorative print depicts John Wilkes Booth mortally wounding Lincoln with a pistol on the night of April 14, 1865. The point blank gunshot causes Lincoln to lurch forward, while Mary Todd looks on in terror. The Lincoln’s were accompanied in their Ford’s Theater box by family friend Major Henry R. Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris. Harris is frozen in fear while Rathbone turns to confront Lincoln’s killer. Below the illustration, the print includes several lines from Lincoln’s favorite play, Macbeth. The lines come from Act One, Scene Seven, in which Macbeth mentally grapples with the notion of murdering his king, Duncan. After Lincoln’s assassination, many were quick to connect the event to Shakespeare’s play, associating Booth with the traitorous Macbeth and Lincoln with the noble and much-loved King Duncan.
label: Description
content: The lithographer of this print is unknown.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: World
topic: label: Subject
content: U.S. National Government, executive branch
label: Subject
content: Uniforms, Military
label: Subject
content: Murder
label: Subject
content: Theater
label: referenced
content: Civil War
label: Subject
content: Assassination
label: related event
content: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
label: related event
content: Civil War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
label: See more items in
content: American Civil War Prints
label: See more items in
content: Art
label: See more items in
content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.2548
label: catalog number
content: 60.2548
label: accession number
content: 228146
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 10 in x 8 1/2 in; 25.4 cm x 21.59 cm