Abraham Lincoln, The President Elect, addressing the People from the Astor House Balcony, February 9, 1861

Abraham Lincoln, The President Elect, addressing the People from the Astor House Balcony, February 9, 1861 is a pivotal early work by Winslow Homer, capturing the mounting tension in the United States just weeks before the Civil War began. Created in 1861, this image is a detailed wood engraving, a classification of prints widely utilized during the nineteenth century for journalistic illustration. The medium allowed for the rapid reproduction and dissemination of current events to a broad audience, reflecting Homer’s early career as a prolific illustrator documenting American political and social life.

The scene depicts President-Elect Lincoln standing on the balcony of the Astor House hotel in New York City, addressing a massive crowd gathered below. This stop was a key part of his circuitous journey from Illinois to Washington D.C. for his inauguration, a period fraught with deep secession anxieties following the election. Homer expertly captures the energy and scale of the public event, using the stark contrasts inherent to the wood engraving process to define the dense mass of onlookers filling the street beneath the newly elected leader.

While Homer would later transition to painting and become one of the most celebrated American artists, this print serves as valuable documentation of a critical juncture in the nation’s history. The work is part of the comprehensive collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. As a widely published piece from the mid-nineteenth century, images related to this historically significant print are often available through public domain archives, allowing researchers and historians worldwide access to these vital records.