422 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1952 



thropologist sees more than the sadness, the compassion, and other 

 such emotions that sculptors delight in portraying; he sees such 

 characteristics as the bold cheekbones that held the mold tight, the 

 clear lines of the nose, the long ears— all features that he has come 

 to recognize as typical of that segment of our population now known 

 as "Old Americans." But let us postpone the considerations of 

 physical anthropology until we have finished our story about the 

 surviving records of Lincoln's physique. 



Two months after taking the face mold Volk arranged to cast Lin- 

 coln's hands. The appointment was for Sunday morning, May 21, in 

 Springfield. This was the day after Lincoln had been officially noti- 

 fied of his nomination and when he had shaken hands with the 

 great crowd intent on congratulating him. Therefore his right hand 

 was somewhat swollen. 



Before making the first cast, that of the right hand, Volk had 

 Lincoln saw off a piece of broomstick. The cast was made with him 

 holding this stick. The left hand was cast without the stick and 

 with the fingers naturally flexed. In the course of the work Lincoln 

 called attention to a scar on the left (?) thumb resulting from a 

 glancing blow of the ax years before. We are not told anything fur- 

 ther about the casting of the hands. 



Like the face mask, the hands are records of Lincoln's physique. 

 Were they large in proportion to his height and angular build? If 

 we can trust what people have said about his hands, they must have 

 been huge. For example, Volk makes a special point of describing 

 Lincoln's handshake, using the following expressions : "Grasping my 

 hand in both his large hands with a viselike grip" and "Those two 

 great hands took both of mine with a grasp never to be forgotten." 

 Again we may ask, Was it the size of the hands, the strength of the 

 grip, or a reflection of the Lincoln personality ? We will take up the 

 answer later and now go on with the story. 



Volk's original casts of Lincoln's face and hands, so valuable alike 

 to sculptor, historian, and physical anthropologist, together with 

 bronze copies thereof made by Volk in 1866, became national property 

 in 1888 (U.S.N.M. acces. No. 20084). Quite fittingly, their preserva- 

 tion and public display in the National Museum in Washington were 

 aided by another notable Lincoln sculptor — Augustus Saint-Gaudens. 

 The latter arranged for Thomas B. Clarke, Richard Watson Gilder, 

 and Erwin Davis to serve with him on a committee to raise funds and 

 purchase the relics from Douglas Volk, the sculptor's son. The com- 

 mittee solicited subscribers, offering to furnish sets of the casts for 

 sums from $50 to $85, depending on whether they were made of plaster 

 or bronze. Ultimately the committee paid Volk $1,500, raised through 

 the following 33 subscribers : 



