The manuscript of Abraham Lincolns 1864 Victory Speech, delivered from the White House two days after he was reelected for a second term, sold yesterday at Christie’s for $3,442,500 (est. $3–4 million), setting a new auction record for an American historical document.

“We are extremely gratified at the attention this historic presidential speech generated in the media, leading up to today’s observance of Lincoln’s bicentennial birthday,” said Chris Coover, senior specialist in the house’s books and manuscripts department.

In the speech, Lincoln says that “we cannot have free government without elections,” even in times of serious crisis, and he calls on the citizens of the United States to “re-unite in a common effort, to save our common country.”

The speech was offered by the Southworth Library Association in Dryden, New York, which has owned it since 1926. The association plans to use the money in part to construct a new wing.

Overall, yesterday’s sale of American manuscripts and printed material earned a total of $5,565,063. Forty of the 51 lots found buyers, and the buy-in rates were 78 percent by lot and 95 percent by value.