Proclamation of Emancipation
Library of Congress
Sometime in 1865 W.H. Pratt of Davenport, Iowa, produced this impressive calligraphic portrait of Abraham Lincoln by skillfully shading the text of what arguably was Lincoln’s most famous declaration, the Emancipation Proclamation. A number of copies of the work—which Pratt is thought to have designed as a tribute to the 16th president in the wake of his assassination—survive today, a sign of its widespread popularity among Americans at the time of its creation.
Related topics: Abraham Lincoln, emancipation
