Proclamation of Emancipation

Description

Proclamation of Emancipation

An impressive and visually striking decorative lithograph titled “Proclamation of Emancipation”, beautifully presented in its original large oval frame with ornate gilded border. The central panel contains the full printed text of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, arranged in an oval pattern surrounding a faint engraved portrait of Lincoln subtly visible beneath the text.

This engraving of Lincoln was created two years after his assassination. This 1865 lithograph by A. Hageboeck and W. H. Pratt uses the very words of the Emancipation Proclamation to form an image of  President Lincoln’s face.   Engraved by W. H. Pratt, “En..accdy to act of Cong. 1865 by W. H. Pratt in the Dis. Court of the U.S. for the Dist. of Iowa.”  Lithograph by A. Hageboeck.  Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863 was a contentious act in the politically divided North. The president’s supporters likened him to a new Moses, and between 1863 and 1864 there was a dramatic increase in the production of prints related to the Emancipation Proclamation, which would have found a ready place in many Republican households. After his assassination in 1865, calligraphy prints, such as the one above, were widely circulated, as they literally infused the words of emancipation with the image of Abraham Lincoln. The legacy becomes the man!

Nicely framed and ready for display.  Frame measures 14″ x 18″

Inventory Number: POL 410