Printing Variants of the Charleston Mercury Broadside
By Robert Jaffee, MD · Originally published September-October 2025 · pp. 3–11
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It seems that everything old finds something new. I would like to update an article I wrote for The Rail Splitter, regarding the Charleston Mercury broadside announcement that precipitated the Civil War. In that issue, I pointed out consistent flaws in the type amongst existing original issues and the existence of two different printing variants. To reiterate, the broadside announced South Carolina’s secession from the Union in bold letters, “The UNION is DISSOLVED” by an ordinance passed on December 20, 1860. The overall size of the broadside is 12 by 24 inches. It had been stated before that there exist three errors in all original broadsides. First, the printing of “1.15” time should be “1:15.” Second, there is a halo around the word “UNION is DISSOLVED,” and last, there is a defect in the uppermost part of the “E” in dissolved. My article pointed out additional and consistent flaws. The “d” in “Passed unanimously at 1.15 has a flaw in the bottom of the loop in “d.” In the “u” by “us” in “That the Ordinance adopted by us in Convention” is broken at the bottom. The “d” of “United” in “United States of America was ratified, and also, all Acts” is incomplete at the top of the “d.” In the part that says “ratifying amendments of the said Constitution” one will see the “g” of “ratifying” is incomplete at the bottom. Observe the “d” in “under” where it says “under the name of ‘The United States of America’ is hereby dissolved” to notice a missing piece of the font in the upper part of the loop. Look at the most left of the above quotation marks around “The United States of America” to see a thicker, darker imprint. These flaws are not due to differences in inking but are present and consistent with all the authentic copies I have examined. I also pointed out (with the help of my wife) that two different printing variants are known. One variant has no comma after “P.M.” At least two examples of this variant exist. One sold at Heritage Auctions in June 2009, and the other is in the Library of Congress. The more prevalent variant has a comma after “P.M.” Examples of this type can be found in the National Museum of American History, the Gilder Lehrman Institute, the Museum of American History, the Chicago History Museum, and the New York Public Library. Now to a new finding. It was brought to my attention by Peter Klarnet, Senior Specialist in Americana, Books, and Manuscripts at Christie’s Auction House, a third distinct variant with all the flaws mentioned above. This edition does not have the heading “Charleston Mercury” but rather “Abbeville Banner.” It also does not contain a comma after “P.M.,” and as Mr. Klarnet pointed out, there is an additional difference from the other editions in that there is a period instead of a colon after the word “EXTRA.” Abbeville has the distinction of being the birthplace of the Confederacy, as it had a meeting
“The Union is Dissolved” published in The Rail Splitter, Vol. 13, No. 3-4, Spring 2010 issue,
to secede from the Union on November 22, 1860, almost a month before the Charleston Mercury, December 20th, broadside. Abbeville is 200 miles from Charleston. Was this printing done to honor Abbeville? This edition, in my opinion, was printed in limited numbers and was the first printed version as it lacks the comma after “P.M.” and the colon after “EXTRA.” The second printed variant is the one without the comma after “P.M.,” but has the colon after “EXTRA,” and the last and probably most abundant variant is the copies with the comma after “P.M.” and the colon after “EXTRA.” Well, if you’re not lost and confused by the above, I hope you’ll keep your eyes out for the various copies of this iconic broadside and maybe find another edition.
About the Author
Dr. Robert Jaffee is an ophthalmologist having had a private practice in New York State for 30 years before retiring to Williamsburg, VA. He has written a dozen published articles on Civil War memorabilia for North South Trader’s Civil War, The Railsplitter, and The Gun Report. He is most proud of interviews he did with such noted dealers as Herb Glass, Sr. and Norm Flayderman for the now defunct magazine, The Gun Report. Now in retirement he quietly collects Civil War artifacts, volunteers at Colonial Williamsburg and Historic Jamestown and most recently published a short memoir of his time working in Texas.
Charleston Mercury Extra. (Author’s Collection)
The “d” in “Passed unanimously at 1:15” has a flaw in the bottom of the loop of the “d.”
In the “u” of “us” in “That the Ordinance adopted by us in Convention” is broken at the bottom.
Observe the “d” in “under” where it says “under the name of ‘The United States of America’ is hereby dissolved” to notice a missing piece of the font in the upper part of the loop.
Look at the far left quotation mark around “The United States of America” to see a thicker, darker imprint.
The “d” of “United” in “United States of America was ratified, and also, all Acts” is incomplete at the top of the “d.”
The printing of “1.15” time should be “1:15.”
The bottom of the letter “g” in the word “ratifying” is not fully formed.
Robert Barnwell Rhett Sr., owner of the Charleston Mercury, distributed printed broadsides on the city streets announcing the dissolution of the federal Union. On December 24, 1860, the secession convention adopted a formal declaration of secession. (Library of Congress)
Abbeville Banner Extra. (2020 Christie’s Images Ltd.)
Photographs from the Original Article
Captions and credits appear in the article text as originally printed.