Details
LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, President. ["HOUSE DIVIDED" SPEECH]. Speech of Hon. Abram [sic] Lincoln, Before the Republican State Convention, June 16, 1858. "The result is not doubtful. We shall not fail -- if we stand firm, we shall not fail." Sycamore, [Illinois]: O.P. Bassett, Printer, Republican Office. 1858. 16mo, 16pp., 141 x 83 mm. (5 9/16 x 3 5/16 in.), folded, uncut and unbound, as issued, tiny tear at top of spine, very slightly soiled, otherwise in fine condition. Fleece-lined cloth chemise, cloth slipcase. Joseph Benjamin Oakleaf, Lincoln Bibliography, 819; Jay Monaghan, Lincoln Bibliography, 1839-1939, 11; Cecil K. Byrd, Illinois Imprints, 1814-1858, 2959; Paul M. Angle, "Four Lincoln Firsts," in Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, vol.36 (1942), pp.4-8.
"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND": THE VERY RARE FIRST SEPARATE PRINTING OF LINCOLN'S "HOUSE DIVIDED" SPEECH
"One of the very rarest items in Lincolniana" (Angle). Oakleaf (1926) and Monaghan (1943) both knew only the copy (believed unique) at the Illinois State Historical Library in Springfield, but Byrd (1966) recorded another copy at Indiana University Library. The Illinois copy has been cut down for binding and now measures a scant 5 x 3 1/8 inches. The cover titles of both the Illinois and Indiana copies bear a slightly different imprint in which the printer O.P. Bassett's office is termed the "True Republican Office." The present copy is apparently an otherwise unrecorded variant with the imprint as above, omitting the adjective "True." The True Republican was the title of the newspaper edited by C.W. Waite and published by Orland P. Bassett.
The printing history of this, one of Lincoln's greatest and most influential addresses, is of more than passing interest. Basler's standard text (Collected Works, 2:461-469) is based on that printed in the Illinois State Journal, 18 June 1858, which followed Lincoln's original manuscript in paragraphing and retained Lincoln's highly personal inflective use of italics. Basler collated that text with the occasional corrections in Lincoln's Debate Scrapbook (at that time part of the Oliver Barrett collection) which Lincoln had made when preparing the 1860 Columbus collected edition of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. The text of the present Bassett edition appears to follow the Journal text and may derive directly from it, with several intriguing differences: 1) a comma added after "permanently" in the often-quoted sentence "I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free."; and 2) The use of "don't" at the beginning of the sentence Basler renders as: "I do not expect the house to fall-- but I do expect it will cease to be divided."
"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND": THE VERY RARE FIRST SEPARATE PRINTING OF LINCOLN'S "HOUSE DIVIDED" SPEECH
"One of the very rarest items in Lincolniana" (Angle). Oakleaf (1926) and Monaghan (1943) both knew only the copy (believed unique) at the Illinois State Historical Library in Springfield, but Byrd (1966) recorded another copy at Indiana University Library. The Illinois copy has been cut down for binding and now measures a scant 5 x 3 1/8 inches. The cover titles of both the Illinois and Indiana copies bear a slightly different imprint in which the printer O.P. Bassett's office is termed the "True Republican Office." The present copy is apparently an otherwise unrecorded variant with the imprint as above, omitting the adjective "True." The True Republican was the title of the newspaper edited by C.W. Waite and published by Orland P. Bassett.
The printing history of this, one of Lincoln's greatest and most influential addresses, is of more than passing interest. Basler's standard text (Collected Works, 2:461-469) is based on that printed in the Illinois State Journal, 18 June 1858, which followed Lincoln's original manuscript in paragraphing and retained Lincoln's highly personal inflective use of italics. Basler collated that text with the occasional corrections in Lincoln's Debate Scrapbook (at that time part of the Oliver Barrett collection) which Lincoln had made when preparing the 1860 Columbus collected edition of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. The text of the present Bassett edition appears to follow the Journal text and may derive directly from it, with several intriguing differences: 1) a comma added after "permanently" in the often-quoted sentence "I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free."; and 2) The use of "don't" at the beginning of the sentence Basler renders as: "I do not expect the house to fall-- but I do expect it will cease to be divided."