Existing comment:
Volk first met Lincoln in 1858, during the Lincoln-Douglas series of debates, and invited him to sit for a sculpture.
Lincoln began the process by visiting Volk's Chicago, Illinois studio on March 31, 1860, to sit for a life mask impression. From this, Volk sculpted a bust, which he delivered to the Lincoln home in Springfield, Illinois on May 18. During the visit, he made arrangements to come back to take plaster impressions of Lincoln's hands on May 20, the Sunday after the official announcement of his presidential nomination the evening before. Volk needed Lincoln to grasp something in his hands in order to make the casts. Lincoln went to his woodshed, sawed off a broom handle, and returned to his dining room where the impressions would be made.
Compared to his left hand, Lincoln's right hand was swollen and puffy from excessive handshaking the prior evening. The difference is evident in the casts. |