EMPANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

[Lincoln, Abraham]: Lipman, Louis, lithographer

Verlag: Published and Sold by S.W. Martin, Lith. by L. Lipman, Milwaukee, Wis., Madison, Wi., 1864

Pictorial lithographic print, 28 x 21½ inches. The full sheet backed by archival paper, repairing tears (including several tears along the top edge and a few long vertical tears). Very good. An unrecorded variant of this elaborate and already quite scarce Midwestern print celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation, published in Madison, Wisconsin during the Civil War, and lithographed in Milwaukee. The printed forms in which the Emancipation Proclamation appeared are legion, and include many broadside and ephemeral items issued in widely separated locales over a long period. Charles Eberstadt's pioneering study on the proclamation remains the best guide through this tangle. He describes and locates copies of most of the notable and early printings of the preliminary proclamation (his nos. 1-7) and the final, official proclamation (nos. 8- 52). The present lithograph is similar to number thirty-three in his bibliography, though no mention is made of this variant. "Many print tributes to the single greatest act of Lincoln's presidency, the Emancipation Proclamation, appeared in 1864. The proclamation was one of the achievements, after all, on which Lincoln based his campaign for reelection. According to bibliographer Charles Eberstadt, who in 1950 located fifty-two separate printings of the document (many elaborately illustrated), seven editions were published in 1862, seventeen in 1863, and seventeen more in 1864. The motivation seems clear: 1862 was the year Lincoln issued the preliminary proclamation; 1863 was the newsworthy 'year of the jubilee' when the final proclamation took effect; and 1864 was a presidential election year, which likely explains the continued healthy output" - THE UNION IMAGE. The print at hand presents the text of the proclamation in cursive script within an oval window. Above the text are depictions of Justice and Columbia beneath a bald eagle, with the word "EMANCIPATION" printed between them. Surrounding the text of the proclamation are vignettes depicting the contrast between free and enslaved life. The left side features emblematic scenes of the horrors of slavery, including overseers firing at runaways, workers being whipped in the fields, and families being separated at the auction block. These are contrasted with the vignettes on the right side of the print, which include an extended family of free Blacks gathered happily around a hearth, children going off to a building labeled "PUBLIC SCHOOL" with an American flag waving above it, and free laborers picking up their paychecks from the cashier. Below the text is an oval portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and an illustration of a group in prayer with text above them reading "Give thanks all ye people, give thanks to the Lord." This variant printing of Eberstadt 33 differs slightly from all other recorded examples It is slightly larger, and there are minor changes to the images, including a different portrait of Lincoln. The second vignette on the left side is also completely changed (although both depict an overseer whipping laborers picking cotton). Additionally, this edition states only 'Copyright Secured' without a date, rather than printing the full "Entered according to Act of Congress." notice. The publisher, Samuel W. Martin of Madison, had been working with lithographer Louis Lipman of Milwaukee since at least 1861, so it is possible that this variant precedes the one recorded by Eberstadt. In any case, both versions of this print are remarkably rare - OCLC records copies at only five institutions: Harvard, North Central Missouri College, the University of Delaware, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, and the Connecticut State Library. We also locate a color copy at the Library of Congress. EBERSTADT, LINCOLN'S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION 33. THE UNION IMAGE, p.132. OCLC 8444889, 43367690. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers WRCAM57520

Bibliografische Details

Titel: EMPANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
Verlag: Published and Sold by S.W. Martin, Lith. by L. Lipman, Milwaukee, Wis., Madison, Wi.
Erscheinungsdatum: 1864