Description
First edition of Caucasus of 1860: A History of the National Political Conventions of the Current Presidential Campaign by Murat Halstead, published in 1860.
Octavo, [6], 232pp, [2]. Pebbled brown cloth, title in gilt on the spine. Previous ownership stamp on the title page and preface, blindstamp on the front free endpaper. Includes an ownership inscription on the front free endpaper, dated 1860. A few marginalia notes in pencil. Solid text block, text generally clean. Rubbing to cloth, wear at head of the spine.
(Sabin 29924) (Howes H-102)
Murat Halstead’s The Caucuses of 1860, published in Columbus by Follett, Foster and Company in 1860, provides a detailed, eyewitness narrative of the major party conventions that shaped the outcome of the pivotal presidential election. As a reporter and editor for the Cincinnati Commercial, Halstead attended the Democratic conventions in Charleston (April) and Baltimore (June), where the party split over the issue of slavery-ultimately nominating two different candidates, Stephen A. Douglas for the Northern Democrats and John C. Breckinridge for the Southern faction. He also covered the Republican convention in Chicago (May), describing the nomination of Abraham Lincoln over front-runner William H. Seward in day-by-day reports. The book includes transcriptions of key speeches, roll-call votes, delegate maneuverings, and even floor plans of the convention halls.
