The Grand Presidential Party at the White House, Washington - Wednesday Evening February5th

This hand-colored wood engraving depicts a party held in the East Room of the White House on February 5, 1862. The Washington, D.C. Evening Star reported on the event, writing, "By ten o'clock the arrivals were thick and fast, and from that hour until midnight the East Room presented a brilliant spectacle indeed. The President and Mrs. Lincoln occupied the center of the room, no formal presentations being made to them, but the guests on arriving advancing to pay their respects to each." The engraving was published in the February 22, 1862 edition of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.