8vo, 169 x 108 mm. Bifolium, printed in gold. (Old folds, minor toning.) 

The Wide Awakes were a youth organization formed in the aftermath of an attack against five textile workers who led a torch-lit parade through Hartford, Connecticut, following a speech by abolitionist Cassius Clay. The following month, Abraham Lincoln spoke against slavery in the same city in a speech so well-received that he was escorted back to his hotel in a torchlit procession led by the newly-formed Wide Awakes. Over the following months, Lincoln, in particular, cultivated these young anti-slavery voters, considering them an asset to the relatively new Republican Party. On 3 October 10,000 Wide Awakes marched through Chicago. By the time Lincoln was elected president on 6 November, the Wide Awakes counted 500,000 active members. When the Civil War began, many members immediately enlisted in the Union Army.