Lot 1338

PRESENTATION COPY OF THE FIRST CORRECT PRINTED COPY OF THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

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PRESENTATION COPY OF THE FIRST CORRECT PRINTED COPY OF THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

Estimate: $1,500 - $2,000

Starting Bid: $750

(0 Bids)

by Alexander Historical Auctions LLC
July 31, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Live Auction
106 East Main Street, Suite 103
Elkton, MD, US 21921

PRESENTATION COPY OF THE FIRST CORRECT PRINTED COPY OF THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
An especially rare and important printing of the volume 'Autograph Leaves of Our Country's Authors' (Baltimore: Cushings & Bailey), 1864. First edition, 8 1/2 x 10 1/4 in., unpaginated but approx. 208pp. 4to. A collection of 200 poems, songs, and other writings by the most important American authors. Of historical import is the fact that this volume contains the first publication of the definitive version of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. In his own hand, Abraham Lincoln wrote his final version of the Gettysburg Address for this publication, which was a work conceived and created by a former Union Army officer to benefit fellow soldiers in the Civil War. Alexander Bliss and John Pendleton Kennedy assembled and published this book in 1864 to raise money for the Baltimore Sanitary Fair (The Maryland State Fair for Soldier Relief). They solicited many prominent Americans, including Lincoln, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Edgar Allen Poe, just to name a few, to provide hand-written copies of one of their works. This book contains the final and definitive version of the Gettysburg Address. There are five copies of the Gettysburg Address in Lincoln's handwriting, each slightly different in its wording and punctuation. This book contains the only copy that includes a title - 'Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg' - dated November 19, 1863, and bears Lincoln's full signature. This very volume bears a wonderful presentation ink inscription on the first page tying the book to the fundraising fair for which it is written. The presentation reads in full: 'Maryland State Fair for the benefit of the U.S. Sanitary and Christian Commissions. Presented to Miss Mary Berry as an expression of the sincere gratitude and esteem of her friends in the 'New England Kitchen' Baltimore April 1864'. The pages are disbound, covers not present but contents are fine save two pages toned from the pressing of a fern leaf, thus the perfect candidate for rebinding.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000