Description
First War Department printing of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, General Orders No. 1, issued January 2, 1863.
Twelvemo, [4pp]. Disbound, faint dampstain to top quarter, no impact to text. Measures 7.25″ x 5″. Housed in a custom half brown morocco chemise. Previously sold by Kenneth Nebenzahl Inc. with dealer’s description laid in. (Grolier Club, One Hundred Influential American Books, 71) (Monaghan 182) (Eberstadt, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, 12).
A scarce work.
The first printing for the War Department of General Orders No. 1 was distributed to various military outposts and bureaus around the United States. Based on the extensive research of Charles Eberstadt, the copy for the War Department was the fifth time the final version of the Emancipation Proclamation appeared in print in January of 1863, following three hastily prepared issues for the State Department and another for Lincoln’s hometown Illinois State Journal newspaper in Springfield, Illinois. A copy of the War Department printing was included in the Grolier Club’s One Hundred Influential American Books Printed before 1900.
