Abraham Lincoln statues

[David Lockmiller]

I googled the Library of Congress website. There was an "Ask a Question" feature to submit a question and provide the basis for the question. I made the following entry:

Original Question
Nov 22 2022, 03:15pm via System

"The only personal request [Vinnie Ream] made of [President Lincoln] was that he sign a copy she had made of the Emancipation Proclamation. He signed it and had Secretary of State William Seward sign as well."

Vinnie Ream, an American Sculptor by Edward S. Cooper (2004) p. 18.


I found the following reference in the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress:

Vinnie Ream and R. L. Hoxie Papers
See bottom, page 6.
BOX OV 2 not filmed Copy of Emancipation Proclamation (signatures of Abraham Lincoln and William H. Seward not in their respective handwriting)

Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm79026674

Would not stating that President Lincoln’s and Secretary Seward’s signatures are “not in their respective handwriting” be a logical inconsistency with Vinnie Ream's biographer, Edward S. Cooper?

True "Lincoln history" in the Library of Congress should not be lost by a simple mistake!

Less than an hour later, I received the following response:

Manuscript Division Reference Librarian
Nov 22 2022, 04:11pm via System

Hello,

Your message was referred to the Manuscript Division, which holds the Vinnie Ream and R. L. Hoxie Papers. If Abraham Lincoln and William H. Seward did sign a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation for Vinnie Ream, it is not the document that is in the Oversize series of the Hoxie Papers at the Library of Congress. Neither signature is consistent with the known handwriting of either Lincoln or Seward, for which the Manuscript Division has multiple samples.

Regards,
Michelle A. Krowl
Civil War and Reconstruction Specialist
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
mkrowl@loc.gov