1864 Engraving of President Lincoln's "Proclamation of Emancipation" by W. Roberts

Presented is a Proclamation of Emancipation wood engraving by W. Roberts. The engraving was published in 1864, just one year after President Abraham Lincoln signed the original Proclamation.  W. Roberts was the artist and engraver and Corydon Alexis Alvord was the printer. The engraving was published by R. A Dimmick, in New York, 1864. The text of the Proclamation is set in a variety of typefaces, which is encased in a pictorial border. The border is decorated with a portrait of Abraham Lincoln and seven other vignettes, including the horrors of slavery at left, the bombardment of Fort Sumter at bottom, and scenes from a prosperous and united nation at right.  On September 22, 1862, five days after the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued a preliminary decree stating that, unless the rebellious states returned to the Union by January 1, freedom would be granted to slaves within those states.  No Confederate states took the offer, and on January 1, 1863 Lincoln presen