Physical Dimensions: overall: 43.2 x 53.7 cm (17 x 21 1/8 in.)
framed: 61.6 x 71.8 x 6 cm (24 1/4 x 28 1/4 x 2 3/8 in.)
Provenance: The artist, New York.[1] F. Reside; his estate; (sale, Silo's Galleries, New York, 21 February 1931, no. 274); Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York;[2] bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1] An undated photograph reproduced in Edgar French, "An American Portrait Painter of Three Historical Epochs," _World's Work_ 13 (1906): 123, depicts Johnson's studio, in which the NGA version of The Early Scholar can be discerned on the left wall.
[2] Provenance information is provided in undated notes, NGA curatorial files, from information conveyed by Mary Towar Bullard (Mrs. Chester) Dale in May 1959.