Lincoln, Abraham, and Stephen A. Douglas

Political Debates between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, In the Celebrated Campaign of 1858, in Illinois; including the Preceding Speeches of Each, at Chicago, Springfield, etc.; also, the Two Great Speeches of Mr. Lincoln in Ohio, in 1859, as carefully prepared by the Reporters of Each Party, and Published at the Times of their Delivery. Columbus: Follett, Foster and Company, 1860

In 8s (9 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.; 232 x 156 mm). "Correspondence" leaf including Lincoln's letter to the Republican State Central Committee of Ohio acceding to the publication of his speeches, fourth leaf blank and genuine; foxed, front inner hinge broken, two Fletcher family letters hinged to front endpapers. Publisher's blind-panelled brown cloth, spine gilt-lettered; a few stains, extremities worn with minor loss. Half blue morocco slipcase, chemise.

Job Fletcher (gift of Abraham Lincoln) — Preston B. Fletcher (bequest) — Lizzie Fletcher Elswick (bequest) — William H. Townsend (bookplate, inserted letter from Lizzie Fletcher Elswick) — Justin G. Turner (cited in Pratt) — Victor and Irene Murr Jacobs (sale, Sotheby’s New York, 29 October 1996, lot 39)

Howes L388; Leroy, Mr. Lincoln's Book 15; Monaghan, Lincoln Bibliography 69; Monaghan, "The Lincoln–Douglas Debates," in Lincoln Herald 45:2–11; Pratt, "Lincoln Autographed Debates," in Manuscripts 6:194–201; Sabin 41156

Presentation copy, inscribed and signed by Lincoln to Job Fletcher, one of the “Long Nine,” in pencil, on the front free endpaper: “Capt. Job Fletcher from A. Lincoln.” First edition, first issue, with the signature mark 2 at the foot of page 17.

The text of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates was set from Lincoln’s own scrapbook of the candidates’ remarks as reported by the Chicago Press & Tribune (for the Republican Lincoln) and by the Chicago Times (for the Democrat Douglas). When published as a presidential campaign tool in April 1860, the collected speeches became a best-seller, and by the time of Lincoln’s official nomination, some 30,000 copies were in circulation.

Lincoln received one hundred copies of the Debates from the publisher, a number of which he inscribed for supporters. David H. Leroy's recent study, Mr. Lincoln's Book: Publishing the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, identified forty-two copies inscribed or signed by Lincoln. Virtually all of the recorded examples, like the present, are signed in pencil, which Lincoln evidently adopted because the paper of the edition tended to spread, or “feather” ink. Leroy's census found only four copies inscribed in ink.

Job Fletcher was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and served in the War of 1812. He settled in Sangamon County, Illinois, in 1819 and worked as a farmer and teacher. Fletcher served two terms, 1834 to 1840, with the future President in the Illinois state legislature, where they belonged to the Sangamon contingent known as the “Long Nine,” which introduced and shepherded to passage an amendment to move the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield. Fletcher later served two terms in the Illinois State Senate, subsequently joining the fledgling Republican Party and working for Lincoln’s nomination and election.

The Lincoln-Douglas confrontations are unquestionably the most famous and most important series of debates in American political history. The candidates’ joint deliberations helped to galvanize sectional attitudes towards slavery, and—although he lost the 1858 Illinois Senate race of which they were a part—the debates catapulted Lincoln towards the 1860 presidential nomination and into the White House.