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Historic photograph of the U.S. Capitol under construction with scaffolding around its dome.

Historical photograph of a large crowd in front of a neoclassical building with columns.

▪ John Wood photographed the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln (right) at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 1861, and the ongoing construction of the Capitol dome that May. Prints and Photographs Division

‘Magnificent Intentions’

New book highlights the work of the United States’ first federal photographer.

Nearly a half-century before the Library of Congress moved from the U.S. Capitol to a grand new building across First Street, an immense dome was planned for the Capitol rotunda, along with the placement of columns on its facade.

As the United States’ first federal photographer, John Wood bore witness to this epic construction project and chronicled the transformation of Washington, D.C., into an established metropolis and center of government.

In “Magnificent Intentions: John Wood, First Federal Photographer (1856-1863),” Library of Congress conservator Adrienne Lundgren highlights the significance of Wood’s photographic images — his documentation of the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Aqueduct; the first panoramic photos of D.C.; the first inauguration photo, from James Buchanan’s inauguration in 1857; and documentation of the Civil War. It also includes a magnificent large format view of Abraham Lincoln’s 1861 inauguration from the Library’s collections. Lundgren’s research established that all of the extant photographs of Lincoln’s 1861 inauguration were taken by Wood.

Wood was born in England but introduced to photography in the U.S. He immigrated in 1832, settled in Iowa and worked as an itinerant portrait miniaturist. It is unclear how Wood first encountered photography, but he likely learned the art from Richard Plumbe, brother of photographic pioneer John Plumbe Jr. He changed professions multiple times, moving from Iowa to Washington, D.C., and back again, from the security of his Capitol studio to the front lines of the Civil War.

The bulk of the images that appear in “Magnificent Intentions” are from the collections of the Library’s Prints and Photographs and Manuscript divisions. Wood’s original collodion glass negatives are held by the Photographic Branch of the Architect of the Capitol, and other collections are held by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia.

“Magnificent Intentions” was published by Smithsonian Books in association with the Library. It is available in the Library of Congress Shop and via booksellers everywhere.

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