The Nicolay Copy is often called the `` first draft '' . After appearing in facsimile in an article written by John Nicolay in 1894 , the Nicolay Copy was presumably among the papers passed to Hay by Nicolay 's daughter Helen upon Nicolay 's death in 1901 . Robert Lincoln began a search for the original copy in 1908 , which resulted in the discovery of a handwritten copy of the Gettysburg Address among the bound papers of John Hayâ '' a copy now known as the `` Hay Draft . ''