Emancipation Proclamation to be Auctioned June 26th; White Plains Rare Document Dealer, Seth Kaller, is the Agent

An original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln will be auctioned in New York City on June 26th. It will be sold by Robert Siegel Auction Galleries and is expected to bring $1.8 to $2.4 million dollars. The current owner is represented by rare document dealer and agent Seth Kaller of Seth Kaller, Inc. (www.sethkaller.com ) who has handled eight of the nine copies that have been offered publicly in the last 40 years.

The signing of the Emancipation Proclamation is often celebrated on June 19th, also known as Juneteenth, commemorating the day in 1865 when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, informed the city's population that the war was over, and declared the slaves free in accordance with the then two-year-old Emancipation Proclamation. 

Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 as President and Commander in Chief. “ At that moment, Lincoln took a decisive stand on the most contentious issue in American history, redefined the Union's goals and strategy, and sounded the death knell for slavery," stated Kaller.

In all, 48 copies of the Proclamation were signed by Lincoln in 1864 in order to raise money for what was known as the Sanitary Commission, which Kaller describes as "a predecessor of the Red Cross and USO, supporting Union soldiers by improving the conditions in camps, assisting with medical care, and providing items for personal comforts, including pens and paper to write to their loved ones at home.”  The documents were originally sold for $10. Of the 26 that Kaller can locate, 18 are already held by museums or libraries. Several of the privately owned copies, including one on loan to the White House, are expected to eventually be donated to public institutions.

The auction catalog is available online at www.sethkaller.com and in keeping with Lincoln’s goal of supporting the troops, the 24 page historically rich and beautifully illustrated catalog is being sold as a keepsake for $15.00, with the entire amount to be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. The catalog, for sale through Ebay (http://bit.ly/KallerLincoln), also depicts the famous upside down 24-cent postage stamp that will be offered in Siegel’s Rarities of the World stamp auction on June 26th (www.siegelauctions.com).

Of all the presidents, Kaller notes that Lincoln historically brings the highest prices. The current auction record for a presidential document was set by Sotheby’s in 2010, for a similar 'official edition' of the Emancipation Proclamation which sold for $3,778,500. That particular copy had been collected by Bobby Kennedy when he was working on Civil Rights issues as Attorney General. Kaller thinks that the Sotheby’s sale achieved a premium for the Kennedy association. But he also expects the record to be broken when one of George Washington’s copies of the Constitution sells at Christie’s on June 22nd.  

Seth Kaller, Inc. is located in White Plains, NY. Among his inventory are other Lincoln signed documents, a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence, and the chair in which Lincoln was sitting when he received the nomination for President. In July, Kaller will issue his own set priced dealer catalog, “Washington, the Revolution, and the Founding,” with items ranging from $25 to over $1,000,000.  For additional information visit www.sethkaller.com or call Seth Kaller, Inc. at 914-289-1776 or lincoln@sethkaller.com.

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