Bedroom in the Wills House, Gettysburg

Creator

Bernhardt Wall

Preview

Creation Date

1939

Description

This item is an etching in brown ink found in Bernhardt Wall, Following Abraham Lincoln, 1809 – 1865, Vol. 4, Set No. 3, Lime Rock: CT, 1944, [leaf 64]. The book was etched and printed by the author. The etching is signed in pencil by the artist and author. It is also signed in the print “Wall 1939.” The print is 3.75 x 5 inches.

The text on the etching reads as follows: “Bedroom in the Wills House, Gettysburg, Penna., used by President Lincoln. Here he wrote the ‘address,’ Nov. 18 – 19. Collection of Mr. Henry E. Luhrs, Shippensburg, Pa.” Historians believe that Lincoln made final revisions to the “Gettysburg Address” on November 18th in this bedroom, where he was the guest of a lawyer named David Wills who had invited Lincoln to speak at the Gettysburg cemetery dedication ceremonies. Bernhardt Wall used a photograph in the Luhrs Collection as a source for his etching.