| Creator |
Watts, James W., -1895, engraver. |
| Contributor |
Herrick, Henry Walker, 1824-1906 delineator. |
|
Herrick, Henry Walker, 1824-1906, delineator. |
|
Stebbins, Lucius, 1810-1901, publisher. |
| Title |
Reading the Emancipation Proclamation [graphic] / H.W. Herrick, Del.; J. W. Watts, Sc. |
| Publisher |
[Hartford, Conn.] : Lucius Stebbins |
| Publisher |
CONN. Hartford. 1864 |
| Date |
1864 |
| Physical Description |
1 print : engraving ; 62 x 51 cm (24 x 20 in.) |
| Description |
Print depicting a white Union soldier reading the Emancipation Proclamation to families of enslaved African Americans in a
cabin. The families are depicted with anxious and solemn mannerisms. Family members surround the officer near a dining table
and hearth. An older boy holds a torch providing the officer with light. The father watches over the soldier's shoulder. Other
figures, including a "young woman with two children, the house servant of her [enslaver], not belonging to the cabin but happened
to be in on the occasion" pray, cheer, and cling to their mothers. Interior also includes a side of bacon hanging next to
a ladder, a drying line with cotton balls handing from it above the hearth, and a cradle. Contains portrait of Abraham Lincoln
below the image. The Emancipation Proclamation, effective January 1, 1863, granted African Americans not only their right
to freedom but the right to join the Union Army.
|
| Notes |
Title from item. |
|
Date from copyright statement. |
|
After painting by Henry Walker Herrick exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York in 1865. Exhibited by "possessor"
Lucius Stebbins.
|
|
Publisher and copyright holder Stebbins published complementary pamphlet "Emancipation Proclamation of January 1st, 1864 [sic]"
that included "Description of the Engraving." Description: Old man at the right with folded hands, Grand-father; Old lady
at the left with cane in hand, Grand-mother; man leaning on ladder, the father; woman with child in her arms, the mother;
lad swinging his hat, oldest son; one holding torch, second son; little girl, oldest daughter; infant in the arms of its mother.
Young woman with two children, the house servant of her master, not belonging to the cabin but happened to be in on the occasion.
Party reading, Union Soldier. The internal view of the Cabin is true to nature. The stone chimney, garret, ladder, side of
bacon, rough cradle, piece of sugar cane and cotton balls, &c, all combine to give a correct idea of the slaves' home. Lincoln
Financial Foundation copy of pamphlet accessible at Internet Archive.
|
|
Lib. Company. Annual report, 1993, p. 44. |
|
LCP exhibition catalogue: An African American Miscellany p. 22. |
|
Purchase 1993. |
|
Description revised 2021. |
|
Access points revised 2021. |
|
Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the
Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom
Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
|
|
Lucius Stebbins (1810-1901), born in Massachussets, worked in Hartford, Connecticut, in the businesses of map coloring and
subscription book publishing (American Publishing Company).
|
| Subject |
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Portraits. |
|
United States. President (1861-1865 : Lincoln). Emancipation Proclamation |
|
African American children -- United States. |
|
African American families -- United States. |
|
African American men -- United States. |
|
African American women -- United States. |
|
Cheering -- United States. |
|
Freedmen -- United States. |
|
Older people -- United States. |
|
Prayer -- United States. |
|
Slave quarters -- United States. |
|
Enslaved persons -- United States. |
|
Soldiers -- Union -- United States. |
|
Enslaved children -- United States. |
|
Enslaved men -- United States. |
|
Enslaved people -- Structures -- United States. |
|
Enslaved women -- United States. |
|
Free persons -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- United States. |
| Geographic subject |
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865. |
| Genre |
Engravings -- 1860-1870. |
| Illustrator |
Herrick, Henry Walker, 1824-1906, delineator. |
| Printer |
Stebbins, Lucius, 1810-1901, publisher. |
| Location |
Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| **GC-Emancipation [P.9429] |
| Accession number |
P.9429 |
