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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Carpenter, Francis Bicknell, 1830-1900 The First reading of the Emancipation Proclamation...[engraving after Carpenter]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC10020 Author/Creator: Carpenter, Francis Bicknell, 1830-1900 Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Print Date: 1866 Pagination: 1 print : framed Height: 87 cm, Width: 107 cm Order a Copy

One engraving depicting the First reading of the Emancipation Proclamation based on the painting by Francis Bicknell CArpenter dated 1866. Steel engraving by A. H. Ritchie after the painting by Francis B. Carpenter. Fully titled "The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation before the Cabinet. From the original picture painted at the White House in 1864." Large "premium engraving from 'The Independent.'" The image depicts Lincoln and his cabinet at his first reading of the proclamation, ending slavery in states still in rebellion. From left to right the men are identified (per the caption): Edwin M. Stanton, Salmon P. Chase, President Lincoln, Gideon Welles, Caleb B. Smith, William H. Seward, Montgomery Blair and Edward Bates. A Confederate printer issued a virtual copy of this substituting Jefferson Davis and his cabinet, entitling it Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet.

Carpenter, Francis Bicknell, 1830-1900
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Ritchie, A. H. (Alexander Hay), 1822-1895

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