Lincoln’s Legacy: Historic Americana from the Life of Abraham Lincoln

Handbill, printed in three columns, 12 x 9 1/8 in. (305 x 232 mm). Docketed on verso, presumably by Lincoln ("A.L."). Light soiling to recto, remnants of red wax seal in bottom right corner verso; in blue morocco case.

THE ONLY KNOWN SURVIVING COPY OF THE FIRST PRINTED WORK BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

"The General charges, that the whole has been gotten up by a knot of Lawyers and others to injure his election; and as I am one of the knot to which he refers, and as I happen to be in possession of facts connected with the matter, I will in as brief a manner as possible make a statement of them..."

James Adams (1783-1843) came to Springfield, Illinois in 1821, after fleeing from New York to avoid a forgery charge, and left behind a wife and daughter. Upon his arrival, Adams presented himself to his new townsfolk as a lawyer, and became involved with the local Democratic Party, where he quickly rose to its top ranks. By 1823, he was appointed probate judge for Sangamon County and postmaster of Peoria, while simultaneously working as a lawyer, and partaking in insurance sales and land speculation. 

In 1837, Adams ran a contentious campaign for reelection for probate judge against Whig Anson G. Henry. Abraham Lincoln, a fellow Whig and Henry supporter, during this time represented Mary Anderson, a poor widow, who claimed that Adams had stolen land in Springfield from her late husband using forged documents. Over the summer, articles began to appear in the Sangamo Journal signed by one "Sampson's Ghost" (believed to be Lincoln), that accused Adams of "fraud, forgery, and Toryism" (Burlingame, p. 423) concerning the suspicious land transaction. A scandal erupted, with Adams on the defensive. Three weeks before the election, in a bid to derail Adams's election, Lincoln had this anonymous handbill printed and distributed in the streets of Springfield. The document details the complicated nature of the lawsuit in plain language for the ordinary citizen to understand, cataloguing Adams's misdeeds and accusing him of forgery. Despite Lincoln's persuasive arguments and evidence pointing to Adams' fraud, in the end, Lincoln's attacks were unsuccessful, and Adams was easily re-elected with 1,025 votes to Henry’s 792.

EXCEEDINGLY RARE AND VIRTUALLY UNOBTAINABLE: "Characteristic of such items, it was printed on cheap paper with uneven sides. The inking was inconsistent, and the columns resembled a mountain range, ragged and zigzagging. It is not surprising that people did not deem it worth saving, accounting for ONLY ONE KNOWN EXTANT COPY" (Schwartz). Roy P. Basler, editor of The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, had to rely on a newspaper version because no copy of the actual handbill was known to exist. As a result, there are differences in punctuation and spelling between the original and the newspaper. Basler I, pp. 89-93 (newspaper printing); Bryd 335a (this copy: "The only known copy of the first separately printed piece of Lincolniana."); Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln (LPAL) 120622; Schwartz, The Lincoln Handbill of 1837: A Rare Document's History (Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Vol. 29, No. 2, Jul., 1936, pp. 135-150).

[With:] the accompanying printed handbill ("I, Benjamin Talbott..."), announcing Lincoln as the author of the above. (Springfield), 7 August 1837. Single sheet, printed in one column, 12 x 6 in. (305 x 152 mm). Old mounting residue in top corners verso.

Equally rare. Printed a week later, this handbill gives the sworn testimony of the Recorder of Deeds Benjamin Talbott, and the testimony of C.R. Matheny, William Butler, and Stephen Logan (referencing the Adams handbill). Notably, it also prints a statement from Sangamo Journal publisher Simeon Francis announcing the authorship of the Adams Handbill as Abraham Lincoln ("I now state that A. Lincoln, Esq. is the author of the handbill in question..."). Bryd 346a; LPAL 139017.

Provenance:

James T. Hickey, historian and collector of Lincolniana, Elkhart, Illinois

Louise Taper, Beverly Hills, California

Exhibition:

The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America, at the Huntington Library, October 1993-August 1994