25111

Lincoln's Landmark Emancipation Proclamation, Sep

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Cultures & Ethnicities Start Price:190.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 750.00 USD
Lincoln's Landmark Emancipation Proclamation, Sep
<B>Lincoln's Landmark Emancipation Proclamation, September 23, 1862 "New York Herald"</B></I> The <I>New York Herald</B></I> was published by James Gordon Bennett. It was one of the finest of all period papers in the full and accurate reporting of the Civil War, employing 63 war correspondents. This issue is one of the most important of all that he published: a front page, column one printing of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln had avoided freeing slaves in the Confederate states believing that the war was being fought to preserve the Union. On August 22, 1862, he wrote (to Horace Greeley): <I>"If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that."</B></I> He had already chosen the third course and was waiting for a decisive Union victory before issuing the Proclamation. Antietam gave him this opportunity and, on September 22nd, he released this preliminary version. On January 1, 1863, the formal and definite Emancipation Proclamation was issued. The President, by virtue of his powers as commander-in-chief, declared free all those slaves residing in territory in rebellion against the federal government <I>"as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion."</B></I> The entire act is printed on page one under a headline of <I>A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES... All Slaves in States in Rebellion January 1, 1863 to Be Free</B></I> and signed in type by Lincoln. The importance of this act cannot be overstated and this is a first printing in an important New York paper the day after it happened. The front page also has two maps and reports of the campaigns in Kentucky. Eight pages, 15.5" x 22.5" in size. Very fine condition, clean and bright, disbound but attached at the spine. A worthy addition to any collection. Lot:251