Lowell, James Russell | First edition, Lowell’s review of Abraham Lincoln’s Amnesty Oath

Lowell, James Russell

No. 16. The President's Policy. [Philadelphia: Crissy & Markley for the Union League of Philadelphia, 1864]

12mo (224 x 146 mm). Publisher’s original printed salmon wrappers. Housed in a maroon cloth clamshell; upper cover of case detached.  

First edition, offprint issue, of Lowell’s review of Abraham Lincoln’s message delivered to Congress on 8 December 1863

Lowell offers a review and analysis of Lincoln's Amnesty Oath, which offered pardons to Confederates who would take a loyalty oath to the Constitution and to the Union of States. Lincoln's third annual message presented a program for Reconstruction for the first time. Speaking kindly of the address, Lowell closes with a reflection on the conciliatory efforts that lay ahead: "We do not like the Southerners less for the gallantry and devotion they have shown even in a bad cause, and they have learned to respect the same qualities in us... No sensible man in the North would insist on any terms except such as are essential to assure the stability of peace."

Rare: according to ABPC, this is the only copy to have appeared at auction in at least the last 35 years. 

PROVENANCE

Insley Blair (Blairhaim booklabel; Christie's New York, 14 December 2016, lot 252)

REFERENCE

BAL 13111