This fanciful painting of Lincoln writing the Emancipation Proclamation was created by satirist, David Gilmore Blyth in 1863. In a cluttered study Lincoln sits in shirt sleeves and slippers, at work on the document. His left hand is placed on the Bible and it rests on a copy of the Constitution. The scene is crowded with symbolic details and other meaningful references. Andrew Johnson, a strong unionist sits on a mantlepiece while James Buchanan who was viewed as ineffectual against succession, hangs by a rope around his neck behind Lincoln. Blyth manages to get in the scales of justice, a copy of the President's oath and a rail splitters maul which lies on top of a map of the rebel states. Blythe was a leading satiric genre painter of his time and frequently commented on the American court system and also depicted poverty-stricken street children.

Mastering materials : A lithographic print on wove paper

Created :M. Depuy, no 21 Wylie St., Pittsburgh Pa. 1863

Creator : David Gilmour Blythe artist, 1815 -1865

Housed in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress

Availability: Special order: ships in 3-4 weeks

Product #: 21604093