Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln, January 1, 1863. “Authorized Edition” signed in 1864 by Abraham Lincoln as President, William Seward as Secretary of State, and John Nicolay as Private Secretary to the President Lincoln Rare Book Collection
The Leland-Boker printed edition of the Emancipation Proclamation was created by two staunch Union supporters, magazine editor Charles Godfrey Leland and philanthropist George Henry Boker. Copies were printed and signed for sale at the Great Central Sanitary Fair held in Philadelphia in June 1864, one of many Northern efforts to raise funds for sick and wounded Union soldiers. Lincoln created a public sensation by attending the Philadelphia event and delivering a moving speech praising the work of the Sanitary Commission. While it is not known how many copies of the Leland-Boker edition of forty-eight were actually signed by Lincoln, twenty-five copies are known to survive.