Late in 1863 a young painter named Francis B. Carpenter wished to
commemorate the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. The
likable and well-connected Carpenter received President Lincoln's
consent during a visit to the White House. Well, Mr. Carpenter, we
will turn you loose in here, said Lincoln. The painter set up a
studio in the state dining room and worked for months in 1864 under
a lighted chandelier. It was a marvelous opportunity to observe the
president and converse with him. The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln:
is Carpenter's account of his experience. He watched the daily
parade of petitioners who came to Lincoln's office-worried mothers,
desperate job-seekers, needy widows and orphans. He heard Lincoln's
own account of the decision to abolish slavery by proclamation,
heard him recite Shakespeare, and heard him say often, That reminds
me of a story. . . . He dealt with little Tad, gathered anecdotes
from insiders, excerpted published reminiscences from former
associates like William H. Herndon. He added his own impressions of
the president, noting a deep melancholy underneath the famous
humor. This book, originally published in 1866, struck a chord with
a public hungering for intimate details about the fallen president.
Carpenter's painting, The First Reading of the Emancipation
Proclamation before the Cabinet, was finished earlier, displayed in
the rotunda of the Capitol before Lincoln's second inauguration,
and then exhibited on a northern tour. Reproductions hung in many
homes, offices, and schoolrooms. Introducing this Bison Books
edition is Mark E. Neely Jr., author of The Fate of Liberty:
Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties. He is John Francis Bannon
Professor of History and American Studies at St. Louis University.
General
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