Product Description

With over 100,000 copies in print, here, with a new jacket for Lincoln’s bicentennial, is the first volume in The Library of America’s acclaimed, comprehensive edition of Lincoln’s writings, featuring 240 speeches, letters, and drafts charting his rise from rural law practice to national prominence. It includes the full texts of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates and the House Divided speech, as well as a detailed chronology of Lincoln’s life and helpful explanatory notes prepared by the late Lincoln scholar Don E. Fehrenbacher.
??The companion volume, also available in a bicentennial edition, is Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74524 in Books
• Published on: 1989-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 898 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780940450431
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review


“The best selection of Lincoln’s writings available today, perhaps the best ever.”—Christian Science Monitor

About the Author
Don E. Fehrenbacher (1920-1997), whom the historian George Fredrickson called “the foremost Lincoln scholar of his generation,” was professor of history at Stanford University and the author of several books, including Prelude to Greatness: Lincoln in the 1850’s, the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics, and Lincoln in Text and Context. Shortly before his death, he was awarded the 1997 Lincoln Prize, the nation’s highest annual award for Civil War studies.

Customer Reviews

#3 in my list of Libary of America books...(of 4)
I bought both volumns of this over the summer. I first bought Libary of America's publication of Jefferson which is a must have. Then Franklin. Those two are extremely good and I highly recommend them to anyone interested in raw historical material.

Now as for the volumes on Lincoln, don't get me wrong; they are also extremely good. As with all of these books, it is a rewarding reading experience to peruse collections of un-edited letters and speeches in their chronological order.

These volumes have every conceivable bit of correspondence imaginable. Lincoln apparently preferred the short letter, as there are several single paragraph letters to generals on the field and the like. He also wrote with simplicity and suprising bluntness. Volume 1 has a number of early speeches and famous debates which give you a sense of the lawyer turned politician. These of course are very lengthy. But also in volumes 1 and 2 there are numerous short letters which include urgent notes to General McClellan and others that would have made me quit the post had I been the receiver! In contrast there are letters revealing Lincolns more sensitive personal side.

I'm rating Lincoln's volumes just behind those of Jefferson and Franklin because there are no references detailing the circumstances for each writing. I felt a little lost not knowing what the impetus was behind the letters and correspondence. This is a departure from the Jefferson and Franklin books, which provide very detailed notes.

Finally I should say that Library of America's books are of very high quality for more than their authorship and reading content. All are bound nicely and printed on bible paper-like acid free paper. They are of exceptional quality just as books. I would say they are the best quality available.

Additionally, Library of America is a non-profit organization with the aim of distributing the work of America's essential writers without commercial gain.

Great volume culminates in the Lincoln-Douglas debates
Abraham Lincoln was a great President. Where he falls on your list is a private judgment, but most put him at or near the top. It is true that there is a more vocal element of detractors nowadays, but those voices tend to also advocate versions of America that most of us would not recognize nor care to legitimate. This volume begins with Lincoln as a young man of twenty-three beginning political career.

The letters are quite interesting and cover a range of topics. It is interesting to note his private correspondence on various topics such as the Mexican War and compare those notes to his public speeches. While he is clearly a politician and aware of the need to garner votes, he uses his powerful intellect to find the line that will hold to his principles and still be convincing to the electorate.

This volume culminates with the seven famed Lincoln - Douglas debates when those two candidates contended for a seat in the Senate representing Illinois. Remember, this was before Senators were directly elected. These were debates to win popular support, but also to show political viability so when the public selected the legislature, the legislature would choose the preferred candidate for the Senate. These debates received national attention, which pleased both candidates. The format was this: first speaker for one hour, response by the second speaker for an hour and a half, the first speaker responds for a half hour. They alternated who spoke first with each debate. They went after each other directly with challenges, personal attacks, interruptions, and appeals to the crowd. Can you imagine any of our candidates even attempting such a risky format nowadays?

As I read the debates, Douglas seems to be a panderer and clearly supporting slavery in a way that seems odd for someone seeking office in Illinois. However, he was really positioning himself for the Presidency. Stephen Douglas did become Senator while Lincoln did not. However, two years later, Douglas did not get nominated as a candidate for President and Lincoln won the Presidency.

This great volume has a chronology of Lincoln's life and notes on the texts and an index.

Early writings of the great Lincoln
The writings of Lincoln are pervaded not only by an enormous intelligence and great power and feeling for the language, but by a wisdom and humility. Reading just a small part of the speeches and letters collected here gives the feeling nonetheless that the political leaders and the American public of that time were far more demanding, disciplined and intelligent than the public is today. Can you imagine anyone today having the patience to listen to six three- hour debates as was the case with the Lincoln-Douglas debates?
Another aspect of reading this work is simply learning and knowing more being more in the presence of America's greatest President and perhaps most exemplary moral figure. In this sense the feeling is that this volume is for those who truly admire Lincoln and wish to know his thought in greater depth.
Lincoln was not simply America's greatest President he was also the President whose writing and thought were unsurpassed. This volume gives further evidence of the greatness which most will know of from his even more famous works, the Gettysburg Address, and 'The Second Inaugural '.