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The most famous of all Lincoln assassination newspapers...
The most famous of all Lincoln assassination newspapers...
Item # 701640
April 15, 1865
THE NEW YORK HERALD, April 15, 1865
* Abraham Lincoln assassination (1st report)
* Ford's Theater - John Wilkes Booth
This issue would rank among the most famous of all Lincoln assassination newspapers, as almost all issues found on the market today are one of the many reprint editions that have turned up for decades.
This is the genuine issue. And better yet it is the "3:00 a.m. Special Edition" as identified by the Library of Congress:
3:00 a.m. Special edition. 8 pages. The first, second, and third columns on page one are the same as the 2:00 a.m. edition. In the fourth column the caption, "The State Capital," has been replaced by "The Latest News" and contains a sub-heading "Secretary Stanton to General Dix, War Department, Washington, April 15--3:00 a.m." "The State Capital" has been moved to the sixth column."
This issue agrees with all of the notations mentioned above.
Among the many first column headlines on the front page are:
"IMPORTANT." "Assassination of President Lincoln" "The President Shot at the Theatre Last Evening" "Escape Of The Assassins" "Intense Excitement in Washington" "Scene at the Deathbed of Mr. Lincoln" "J. Wilkes Booth, the Actor, the Alleged Assassin of the President" and more.
The latest dispatch, timed at 3:00 a.m., notes: "The President still breathes, but is quite insensible, as he has been ever since he was shot. He evidently did not see the person who shot him..." with more.
Of the six columns on the front page almost four are taken up with reports of the assassination, the remainder concerning various Civil War reports and a few other items. Additional Civil War reports are found on the inside pages.
Eight pages, light damp stain at the spine edge, earlier archival mends across the horizontal fold on page 2 and the other interior pages, small tears at the margins. The front page is quite presentable, while the interior pages have various repairs and some central fold separation.
AI notes: The New York Herald’s April 15, 1865, 3:00 a.m. Special Edition was an urgent, extraordinary issue released in the immediate aftermath of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s Theatre the previous evening. Headlined with the simple but striking word “IMPORTANT,” the edition reported that Lincoln had been shot at approximately 9:30 p.m. on April 14 and was lying in a critical, “utterly helpless” condition, according to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. The paper conveyed the tense atmosphere in Washington, describing the somber scenes at the president’s deathbed, the frantic search for John Wilkes Booth and his accomplices, and the nationwide shock and mourning. As one of the first newspapers to chronicle the tragedy, this special edition not only provided immediate news but also captured the raw emotions and uncertainty of a nation confronting the sudden loss of its leader, making it a historically invaluable document.
Category: The Civil War
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