(Chicago: Thomas B. Bryan and Edward Mendel, 1863), being an exact copy of President Lincoln's original 1862 draft Proclamation and incorporating a tipped-on albumen photograph of Lincoln that is credited in print to the studio of Wenderoth & Taylor of Philadelphia; a period blind-stamped Proclamation seal in the lower left corner attests to the document's authenticity as an official copy of the Proclamation being sold strictly for the benefit of the U. S. Sanitary Commission and the Soldier's Home of Chicago, Illinois. Presented behind glass in an early 20th century wooden frame with gilt liner.

Frame dimensions 36-1/4 x 29-3/8 in.

By descent through a Midwestern family

Thomas Bryan, President of the Chicago Soldier's Home, engaged lithographer Edward Mendel to reproduce Lincoln's hand-written Emancipation Proclamation for a fund-raising broadside. This proved a great move for posterity since Lincoln's original document, owned by Bryan, was destroyed by Chicago's infamous fire of 1871.

Overall age toning; a few vertical creases, mainly in the central portion of the sheet; ink remains crisp and bold; a few small surface chips to the Lincoln photograph, not affecting the portrait; light stains and some spotting; the frame with a very few marks; overall good condition...and much better than the copy on the Library of Congress website! Not examined out of the frame.

$1,000 - 2,000