Very Early State Department Printing of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and William Seward's Cover Letter, Sent to American Minister in Argentina

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Verlag: Washington, D.C., 1863

Beschreibung

Printed Circular, By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation. First page: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Printed Letter Signed by Secretary, to Robert C. Kirk, January 3, 1863. [Washington: Government Printing Office, ca. January 5, 1863], 2 pp. on one folded sheet, 8 1/4 x 13 in. (pages 2 and 4 blank) "By virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons."One of the first obtainable printed editions of Abraham Lincoln's final Emancipation Proclamation, January 1863, issued by the State Department. Partial Transcript[Letter of transmittal:]Department of State,Washington, January 3, 1863.To Robert C. Kirk, EsqrYou will receive herewith a copy of a proclamation which was issued by the President on the first day of January instant, in which he designates the States and parts of States which yet remain in insurrection against the United States, and gives effect to the proclamation which he issued on the 22d day of September last, and in which it was announced that the slaves within such States and districts would, as a measure of military necessity, on the said first day of January, be declared forever free. Through this great act, slavery will practically be brought to an end in eight of the States of this Union and in the greater portions of two other States. The number of slaves thus restored to freedom is about three and one-half millions.The President entertains no doubt that this transaction will commend itself to the enlightened judgment and moral approbation of not only all Christian States, but of mankind. I am sir, your obedient servant, Signed William H. SewardThe second page prints the full text of Lincoln's final Emancipation Proclamation, signed in type by Lincoln and Seward. This fourth separately printed fourth edition of the final Emancipation Proclamation was preceded only by a virtually unobtainable broadsheet printing, a newspaper broadside by the Illinois State Journal in Springfield, and a nearly identical State Department printing lacking the attached transmittal letter.Bibliographer Charles Eberstadt describes this edition as "a circular printed for dissemination to the foreign service posts of the Department of State" and hypothesizes that it was printed on or about January 5, 1863, four days after the proclamation was first issued. Eberstadt located only four examples of this imprint, of which only the copy at the National Archives still had the transmittal letter attached-that one to Charles Francis Adams as the American Embassy in London, which Adams received on January 19, 1863.[1] Only one other example has appeared at auction in the past forty years.Historical BackgroundBy the summer of 1862, President Lincoln believed it was becoming possible and necessary to tear down the chief pillar of the Confederacy. He intended to issue the proclamation in June, but his cabinet counseled waiting until after a Union victory lest it be seen as an act of desperation. The Battle of Antietam provided an opportunity, and on September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, warning Southern states to abandon the war or face losing their slaves in 100 days.The text of this (final) Proclamation reveals the major themes of the Civil War: the importance of slavery to the war effort on both sides; the courting of border states; Lincoln's hopes that the rebellious states could be convinced to come back into the Union; the role of black soldiers; constitutional and popular constraints on emancipation; the future place of African Americans in society, and America's place in the worldwide movement towards abolition.Anti-abolition and racist se. (See website for full description). Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 27119.99

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Very Early State Department Printing of ...

Verlag: Washington, D.C.

Erscheinungsdatum: 1863

Einband: No binding

Zustand: Very Good

Art des Buches: Printed Circular