Description

This philatelic commemoration of the 125th Anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates consists of a white binder with 28 leaves containing explanatory text and/or commemorative cacheted covers on one side. The text begins with brief biographies of candidates Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen A. Douglas and continues with the political activities of both men during the year 1858. The first 11 of the 20 multi-colored covers commemorate their political activities from April through August 20, 1858. The next 16 leaves contain a schedule of travel for both candidates to the sites of the seven debates as well as covers commemorating each debate. The last two leaves contain covers commemorating election day in both Springfield, Illinois, and Chicago as well as an epilogue giving the results of the election and the aftermath. Each cover has a title at the center top in colored ink with a stamp in the upper left corner reading "The Lincoln Douglas Debates." Postage stamps equaling 20 cents postage including a Lincoln-Douglas Debates 4-cent stamp are placed in the upper right corner of each cover. A scene related to the title of the cover and full-length stamped portraits of Lincoln and Douglas take up most of the left half of each cover. The postal cancellation of the stamps is the same date as the event described in the text with the year being 1983 instead of 1858. A printed note at the end of the last leaf states that this commemoration was printed in a limited "edition of 350 of which this is No. 50." Part of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum