In my post of November 19, 2013, I wrote about the Gettysburg Address given by Abraham Lincoln on the battlefield of Gettysburg. After I made that post, I received a catalog from my sister of rare books and was surprised by an entry in regards to the Gettysburg Address. I would like to include it here.
The actual name of the Address was "An Oration Delivered on The Battlefield of Gettysburg (November 19, 1863) at the Consecration of the Cemetery ; Prepared for the Interment of the Remains of Those Who Fell in the Battles of July 1st, 2d and 3d, 1863". We know it as the Gettysburg Address.
This is a rare first edition of Lincoln's magnificent Gettysburg Address, scrawled on scratch paper and back of envelopes and corresponds almost exactly to his spoken version.
The Washington Chronicle reported on November 21, 1863 the events at the cemetery and printed verbatim Edward Everett's 2 hour oration (which preceded Lincoln's address). There was no mention of the President Lincoln's short speech. Four days later the paper mentioned that President Lincoln had also given "a short speech". Finally a pamphlet was printed of Edward's Oration (as it came to be known) and Lincoln's speech was tucked away as a final paragraph on page 16. Later that year, a booklet was published of Edward's Oration and this time Lincoln's address was included - on page 40. Despite the notoriety of Edward Everett's oration, it is only President Lincoln's short 2 minute speech that is remembered today.
This rare first edition of Lincoln's speech (handwritten) is available for $55,000.
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