[Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)]. The Proclamation of Emancipation by the President of the United States, to Take Effect January 1st, 1863. [Boston]: [John Murray Forbes], [December 1862].

32mo, 2 14 x 3 1/4 in. Original publisher's printed light brown wrappers, thread binding. Seventh edition. Eberstadt 7; Monaghan 147. 

Pencil ownership inscription to interior wrapper: "Charlie Fremont"

The only pamphlet edition of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, published by Boston abolitionist John Murray Forbes with the support of Massachusetts governor John Albion Andrew and Charles Sumner. Published by Forbes to distribute in quantity to frontline Union troops and African Americans throughout the South.  

Lincoln finished his manuscript draft of the Emancipation Proclamation on 22 September 1862 and the State Department quickly printed (possibly the same day) the first edition of the preliminary Proclamation, giving the South one hundred days' notice of the consequences of continued rebellion. Three more government-issued printings followed shortly thereafter.

In addition to the four government printings, this edition is preceded by a newspaper printing (Bowling Green, 4 October 1862) and a broadside also published by Forbes in Boston. This edition "is the only one separately issued in pamphlet form." (Eberstadt p. 12).

Forbes desired to widely disseminate the Proclamation, especially to the Black population. His daughter, Sarah Forbes Hughes, recollects: "With the view of placing the Proclamation of Emancipation in the hands of the negroes themselves, my father had 1,000,000 copies printed on small slips, one and half inches square, put into packages of fifty each, and distributed among the Northern soldiers at the front, who scattered them about among the blacks, while on the march. Sumner approved the idea." (Letters and Recollections of John Murray Forbes, vol. I, p. 348). Sumner wrote in a letter to Forbes on 25 December 1862: " I like much the idea of distributing the Proclamation through the army....Why not send it to all the hospitals, camps, posts? The more the better." (Letters and Recollections of John Murray Forbes, vol. I, p. 349). The scarcity of this small pamphlet makes it seem unlikely that one million copies were actually printed, yet Forbes's enthusiasm for the project is undeniable. 

Under the title "Slavery the Chief Corner-Stone," the rear cover includes a quote from Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens: "The stone (slavery), which was rejected by the first builders, is become the chief stone of the corner in our new edifice." By including the quote, Forbes emphasizes the true causes of the Civil War and the necessity for emancipation. He discussed the inclusion specifically with abolitionist leader Senator Charles Sumner, to which he responded on 25 December 1862: "I see no objection to printing the extract from Stephens on the sheet with the Proclamation" (Letters, p. 349). 

An essential imprint in the history of Emancipation. 

References

Charles Eberstadt. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. No. 7, p. 26-27. Monaghan, no. 147.

Sarah Forbes Hughes, editor. Letters and Recollections of John Murray Forbes. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1899. 

Jay Monaghan. Lincoln Bibliography 1839-1939. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Historical Library, 1943. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation] [Broadsides, Ephemera, Printing, Posters, Handbills, Documents, Newspapers]