Political Debates Between Hon. Abraham Lincoln First Edition - Abraham Lincoln - Bauman Rare Books

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Political Debates Between Hon. Abraham Lincoln

Abraham LINCOLN | Stephen DOUGLAS

Item#: 123192 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Political Debates Between Hon. Abraham Lincoln

Political Debates Between Hon. Abraham Lincoln

"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND": FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, OF THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES, 1860

(LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES) LINCOLN, Abraham. Political Debates Between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, In the Celebrated Campaign of 1858, in Illinois. Columbus: Follett, Foster, 1860. Octavo, original blind-stamped brown cloth. Housed in a custom chemise and clamshell box.

First edition, first issue, of the most famous debates in American history, the event that transformed Lincoln into a national presidential candidates, in original cloth.

Running as a little-known candidate for the Illinois senatorship in 1858, Lincoln challenged incumbent and Democratic leader Stephen Douglas to a series of debates. The result was a memorable chain of lively arguments in front of cheering crowds. Though Lincoln lost the senatorial race, "he began collecting a scrapbook of his best speeches, particularly those from the just-concluded campaign against Douglas, for possible inclusion in a book. Assiduously pasting newspaper accounts of the debates into the scrapbook, Lincoln cast about for a publisher. Initial efforts failed, mainly because Lincoln wanted the book printed in Springfield, which had no local publishing or printing facilities. Eventually, however, the Columbus, Ohio, firm of Follett, Foster & Company showed interest, and he began preparing the first edition… Somewhat surprisingly for an attorney, Lincoln did not seek Douglas' permission to publish a book of their combined speeches, although Douglas was later given the last-minute opportunity—he declined—to make corrections to his own remarks" (Morris, 121). First issue, with no advertisements, no rule above the publisher's imprint on the copyright page, and with numeral 2 at the bottom of page 17. Monaghan 69. Wessen, Debates of Lincoln and Douglas, 91-106. Howes L338. Sabin 41156. See McMurtry, Different Editions (1934).

Text with light scattered foxing, title page with expert restoration to small corner loss not affecting text, expert restoration to spine ends of original cloth, scratch marks to cloth. An attractive copy.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
Association Copy copy that belonged to someone connected with the author or the contents of a book.
Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
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Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
Chromolithograph Lithograph printed in colors, typically three or more.
Collation Process by which the contents of a book are inspected for completeness, checking against internal evidence, the table of contents and/or plate list, and reference works. Also a shorthand bibliographical description of a book’s composition by its leaves and signatures, rather than its pages. A-C, for example, would indicate a quarto volume composed of three signatures or gatherings of eight pages each for a total of 24 pages.
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Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.
Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.
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Foxing Light brown spots that naturally appear on some papers due to oxidation as they age.
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