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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;2manybooks, post: 1530267, member: 8267&quot;][USER=13529]@Joseph Mason[/USER]</p><p>I have not spent as much time as you obviously have delving into original sources on this particular topic. My view has been informed by a more general knowledge of the history of costumes and the history of photography. However, I have located another photograph that purports to be of Mary Todd Lincoln in her 1861 inaugural gown, (a different gown), taken by Mathew Brady:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]227540[/ATTACH]</p><p><a href="https://www.si.edu/search?edan_q=Mathew%2BBrady%2BMary%2BTodd%2BLincoln" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.si.edu/search?edan_q=Mathew%2BBrady%2BMary%2BTodd%2BLincoln" rel="nofollow">https://www.si.edu/search?edan_q=Mathew+Brady+Mary+Todd+Lincoln</a>, and</p><p><a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2016/12/rare-item-of-the-month-marys-treasures/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2016/12/rare-item-of-the-month-marys-treasures/" rel="nofollow">https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2016/12/rare-item-of-the-month-marys-treasures/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Here is another print of the same image, but easier to see the details:</p><p><img src="https://civilianwartime.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/lincoln-in-keckley-dress.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><a href="https://civilianwartime.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/lincoln-in-keckley-dress.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://civilianwartime.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/lincoln-in-keckley-dress.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://civilianwartime.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/lincoln-in-keckley-dress.jpg</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Again, the gown appears white, but may have actually been blue. The &quot;lace collar&quot; would refer to the the trim across the shoulders, at the top of the gown&#039;s low neck.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is the March 23, 1861 issue of Frank Leslie&#039;s Illustrated Newspaper, with a cover illustration of the &quot;Inauguration ball at Washington, March 4, 1861 - superb costumes of distinguished ladies present on that brilliant occasion / from sketches by our special artists&quot;. This shows the contemporary fashion for ball gowns, consistent with the photograph(s) of Mary Todd Lincoln&#039;s gown(s):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]227547[/ATTACH] <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/president-abraham-lincolns-inaugural-ball" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/president-abraham-lincolns-inaugural-ball" rel="nofollow">https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/president-abraham-lincolns-inaugural-ball</a></p><p>[ATTACH=full]227544[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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