Sale 2455 - Printed & Manuscript Americana, September 28, 2017

O! SAY, CANYOU SEE, BYTHE DAWN’S EARLY LIGHT 279 c   (WAR OF 1812.) [Key, Francis Scott.] Newspaper printing of“Defence of Fort McHenry” (the Star-Spangled Banner) in the National Aegis. On the final of 4 pages, 19 x 12 inches, on one folding sheet; disbound, toning, part of original subscriber’s name on first page. Worcester, MA, 12 October 1814 [3,000/4,000] An early printing of what became the national anthem, to be sung to the tune of “Anacreon in Heaven.”The first newspaper printing was on 20 September 1814 in the Baltimore Patriot. It is here presented with the Patriot’s introduc- tion, which calls it a “beautiful and animating effusion, which is destined long to outlast the occasion, and outlive the impulse which produced it.” Filby, Star-Spangled Books N23.