Rare Broadside of Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address

No place, March 4, 1861. Printed broadside, in three columns, containing the first Inaugural Address of President Lincoln. 23 3/4 x 9 3/8 in. (603 x 241 mm). Creasing from old folds, light foxing to margins and text, a few small ink stains. Not in Monaghan

President Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural address was delivered on March 4, 1861, on the eve of the Civil War. Primarily addressed to the people of the South, Lincoln hoped to allay the rising tensions over slavery, and emphasized his determination to preserve the Union, while appealing for restraint from potential hostilities. Lincoln concludes with his famous plea, "We are not enemies but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory stretching from every battle-field and patriot's grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely as they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

The type of this example matches the "Extra" issue published by The Chicago Tribune (dated March 4, 1861) but does not include their masthead. Due to printing errors, the top two lines of the middle column are wanting, as well as the first word in the third column.

Rare. According to RBH, only two similar examples of this printing have come to auction, one with a masthead and one without. Another example, also attributed to The Chicago Tribune, is held at the Library of Congress.