Lincoln Assassination, Extremely Rare, Early Edition of New York Tribune, April 15, 1865

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Nov 18, 2016 - Nov 19, 2016

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• Lot Description
  New York Daily Tribune, April 15, 1865. 4pp, approx. 15.75 x 20.75 in. 
  
  The morning edition contained 8 pages, with only sketchy information. Pages 1, 4, 5, and 8 had heavy black mourning borders (copy in LOC). Page 8 had the heading in the first column "From North Carolina." By the time the Tribune had to go to press, there weren't any definitive answers. The paper carried a headline on page 4, the first report: "Highly Important! The President Shot! Secretary Seward Attacked." The editors related the telegrams as they received them. "Fifth dispatch: April 15 - 12:30 am. The President was shot in a theater tonight and is perhaps mortally wounded. The President is not expected to live through the night...Secretary Seward was also assassinated..."
  
  This late edition was issued as an extra, and we were unable to find any other copies for comparison. There is the morning front page with the Tribune's masthead, which appears to be the same. The back of that page contains page 4 from the morning edition. Both of these pages have heavy mourning borders in the gutters between columns.
  
  Another page has "Extra. Death of the President. Secretary Seward's Condition." in the upper left corner and banner reading "Evening Edition of the Tribune." Some of these entries are from the earlier edition. "From the Army of the Potomac" appeared on page 8 of the earlier edition, for example. This page has normal gutters with light lines. 
  
  The last page has some continuation from the original page 4 - the later dispatches  12 - 15. "From North Carolina" was originally on page 8. Upper left corner has: "Postscript. 4:30 o'clock A.M. Latest. The President just alive at 3 a.m. Secretary Seward Better. His Son and Servant not expected to Live. Popular Opinion as to the Murder. [O]fficial Account."
  
  This does not seem to appear in the morning edition, which gives this paper the "feel" of a souvenir edition, but we can find no record of the Tribune printing a souvenir (unlike copies of the Herald, for example, with many souvenir printings). It appears to be similar to the morning edition, leaving out all the financial articles, the steamboat and railroad schedules, the ads, etc. The remaining articles, with assassination and battle content, were fitted on whatever page had room. But then, the assassination WAS the news of the day. This paper shows signs of being produced in haste as the situation changed (missing the "O" in Official, for example, or not putting mourning borders on the third page).
  
  Provenance: Property of N. Flayderman & Co.

  Condition

  Scattered foxing. A few holes, especially around folds. Some scuffing of edges, particularly the long edge, as somewhat expected. The only Tribune reprints we could find mentioned were printed for the Centennial in the 1960s and this does not appear to be a 1960s printing.
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