New York Herald // Lincoln Assassination / Newspaper Reprint
Printed in the 1880s of the New York Herald's 1865 issue of the assassination of President Lincoln April 9, 1865. Includes various reports regarding the last days of the Civil War. Inside the pages are advertisements Herbal medicine.
New York Herald, Lincoln Assassination issue ranks among the most famous of all Lincoln assassination newspapers, and almost all issues found today are one of the various reprints. The "April 15, 1865 New York Herald" comes in more than twenty reprint variations. Like many reproductions of old newspapers, they bear a passing resemblance to the originals. However, these were not produced to deceive modern collectors, but produced for commercial activities. Some, perhaps most, of these reprints were made as advertising flyers. They were intended to catch the eye of passers-by as they were handed out on busy street corners across the nation. Others were made as souvenirs to sell to tourists at historical sites. At the time they were new, no one mistook them for original 1865 newspapers, but with the passage of time the facts of their origins have been forgotten. Vast numbers of them have survived and these sheets accomplished their purpose, to catch and hold the public's attention.
The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835 and 1924.In its day it was considered to be the most sensationalist of the leading New York papers. The Heralds ability to entertain the public with timely headlines made it the leading circulation paper of its time.
Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated; and assassination had a long-lasting impact upon the nation. He was mourned around the country. Millions of people viewed Lincoln's body and the funeral train as his remains were transported from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Illinois. After he passed into the nations collective consciousness both his image and memory became a powerful marketing tool, something the New York Herald was able to exploit in these reprints.
Further, the Heralds exploitation of the Lincoln Assassination to circulate advertisements seems both ironic and strangely appropriate, given that the publishers James Gordon Bennett and his son James Gordon Bennett, Jr., who were consistently hostile to Abraham Lincoln and had printed many editorials savagely attacking Lincoln's character and policies.
For these reprints the New York Herald added a front-page portrait of Lincoln - another characteristic which differentiates the reprints, as the original edition had none. The image they chose to use is Lincoln without a beard, which makes it almost five years out of date in 1865 since he grew his beard in 1860. The Herald printed no front-page portraits in 1865; in fact only one newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer possessed sophisticated illustration technology in 1865.
Framed (outside dimensions 27.5 x 42 in.)
Exhibition History
Chicago Meeting December, 2003
(ZFC0324)
The New York Herald Vol. XXX No. 104
Date: April 15, 1865
Medium: Newsprint
Comment: The death of President Abraham Lincoln at the hands of Southern conspirators, led by the famous thespian John Wilkes Booth, plunged the nation into mourning. This manifested itself in banner headlines and numerous extra editions of daily newspapers in cities across America and around the world.
The New York Herald, published from 1835 to 1924, was one of New York Citys premier dailies, and the arch rival of Harpers Magazine. This copy of the paper is indicative of the nations deep sense of loss and the peoples need to know the details of the assassination.
Interestingly, this issue also contains stories and reports on the health of Secretary Seward, General Grant, and waning days of the Civil War.
Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0324) from an antique dealer in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1972.
Publication History:
Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 91.
April 15, 1865 New York Herald Extra Edition
(reproduction), announcing President Lincolns death.
Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0324)
ZFC Important Flag
Item is Framed