Description:

LINCOLN'S GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
Excessively rare newspaper, the Nov. 20, 1863 edition of the Boston Daily Evening Transcript, 4pp. folio, cut cleanly at the spine for microfilming yet entirely intact and otherwise in very fine condition. Lincoln's famous "Gettysburg Address" is published in its entirety on page four under the heading "Dedication of the National Cemetery" and includes crowd reaction such as "applause" and at the finish "Long continued applause". The paper also describes the solemn ceremonies preceding the speeches of Lincoln and Edward Everett, including a march through the street of the city, funeral dirges, etc. Everett's speech, which consumed nearly two hours, preceded that of Lincoln, and is also printed in its entirety. I reads, in small part: "…We have assembled...to pay the last tribute of respect to the brave men, who, in the hard fought battles of the first, second and third days of July last, laid down their lives for the country on these hill sides and the plains before us, and whose remains have been gathered into the Cemetery which we consecrate this day. As my eye ranges over the fields whose sods were so lately moistened by the blood of gallant and loyal men, I feel, as never before, how truly it was said of old, that it is sweet and becoming to die for one's country…we must bear in mind, it is one of the great lessons of the war, indeed of every war, that it is impossible for a people without military organization…to withstand the inroad of a veteran army. What defence can be made by the inhabitants of villages mostly built of wood, of cities unprotected by walls…we owe it to the brave men who sleep in their beds of honor before us, and to their gallant surviving associates, not merely that your fertile fields, my friends of Pennsylvania and Maryland, were redeemed from the presence of the invader, but that your capitals were not given up to threatened plunder, perhaps laid in ashes, Washington seized by the enemy, and a blow struck at the heart of the nation...". Much more. The Gettysburg Address was not considered a great success at the time. Some eye-witness reports say there was little or no applause, and newspaper responses varied from indifference to predictable partisan praise or condemnation. Now, Lincoln's utterance has become the most quoted speech of all time.

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May 13, 2009 10:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

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