Tag: abrahamlincoln

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Abraham Lincoln’s Last 100 days – City Point, Petersburg: June 13 Bus Tour and Picnic

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With the spring symposium behind us (more on that later), next up for the Lincoln Group of DC is our annual picnic and bus tour. This year we’re going to City Point and Petersburg to trace Abraham Lincoln’s two week trip to view the final stages of the Civil War. This is a critical time period and will be narrated by our very own certified tour guide, Craig Howell.

Here is the flyer. More details and sign up at Lincoln Group of DC.

LGDC City Point Petersburg Flyer

Best time to sign up is now!

On the home front, this will be a busy week. In the next few days I need to finish another chapter of my Edison book and write some blog posts to go live while I’m on my trip. Plenty of last minute chores (Home Depot) and tasks (make train reservations!). Which reminds me, time to get to work.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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Book Review – Abraham Lincoln: Philosopher Statesman by Joseph Fornieri

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Philosopher StatesmanAn exceptional scholarly treatment. Author Fornieri examines the age-old question of what makes Abraham Lincoln great. His answer lies in the belief that Lincoln was a philosopher statesman, which he defines as being understood in terms of six dimensions of political leadership.

The six dimensions are Wisdom (i.e., theoretical wisdom), Prudence (i.e., practical wisdom), Duty, Magnanimity, Rhetoric, and Patriotism. Fornieri devotes entire chapters to each of these individual dimensions and provides substantial and substantive examples.

As might be expected, there is significant overlap between the various dimensions and the examples used to explore them. As suggested by the title, the writing is often philosophical and deeper than most treatments of Lincoln. The book is short – only about 170 pages of text – but as dense as a book twice its length.

While probably not amenable to a general audience, the book is highly recommended for Lincoln scholars, both professional and avocational.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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Book Review – Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln by Jonathan W. White

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Jonathan W. WhiteThis book is an exceptional work of scholarship. Author Jonathan W. White explores in depth an area of the Civil War largely overlooked, or worse, taken for granted – the soldier vote in 1864. Unafraid to challenge the conventional wisdom, White painstakingly digs into the records to determine exactly how the soldier vote was influenced by various factors, political and otherwise.

That conventional wisdom notes that 78% of the soldier vote went to Lincoln in the 1864 election, and from this assumes that soldiers largely had shifted to the Republican party way of thinking and accepted emancipation as a valid military goal. White shows that the reality is much more nuanced. In fact, the 78% vote is most likely due to other factors.

Those factors are discussed in its five chapters and include intimidation in the Union ranks, resignations and desertions of those who disagreed with emancipation, and disaffection with the long war itself. In short, the composition of the army changed after the Emancipation Proclamation, as Democratic supporters either left the service or found it prudent to avoid voicing their opinions, which would get them charged with disloyalty to the Union.

White’s scholarly research is indefatigable, as the extensive endnotes and lengthy bibliography of primary materials is testament. His unearthing of diaries and letters from individual soldiers, as well as his considerable use of court-martial records, is second to none. The sourcing alone is worthy of acclaim. In fact, the book was awarded the prestigious 2105 Abraham Lincoln Institute book award.

The book is highly recommended to all Lincoln and Civil War scholars.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

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Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address – His Greatest Speech

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Those who memorized the Gettysburg Address or trudged through the logic of the Cooper Union speech may offer some argument, but many scholars consider Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address to have been his greatest speech. He gave it 150 years ago today, March 4, 1865.

Lincoln 2nd inauguration

Much more concise and philosophical than his first inaugural address, this second inaugural came at a critical time in the Civil War. The previous November Lincoln had pulled out a resounding victory in the the presidential elections that only a few months before appeared to be an impossible dream. Sherman’s march to the sea and gift of the city of Savannah to Lincoln for Christmas helped shine light on what would be the end of the war just weeks after Lincoln took his oath of office for the second time.

The speech is somber even as it anticipates the successful ending of the war that had ravaged the land for four years. Then, while all “dreaded” the impending war, and “sought to avert it,” still, “the war came.” Now, the speech’s biblical references delve deep into the morality of the war, of slavery, and of the future.

He used alliteration to plead for the war to end.

“Fondly do we hope–fervently do we pray–that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.”

It’s final passage is perhaps the greatest call for humanity ever written:

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan–to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.“

Of course, no one knew that Lincoln had only weeks left to live. Or that his assassin was on the balcony above him as Lincoln delivered his inaugural address.

Much has been written about the speech and its call for re-union of the country. Tonight I’ll be in the famed Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol attending a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the second inaugural. Chaired by historian Harold Holzer and attended by Senators, Congressman, and Lincoln historians, the inaugural address will be read by the well-known actor Stephen Lang.

Then on Saturday, March 7th, the Lincoln Group of DC hosts three amazing events. We start with a reenactment of the address on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, followed by a banquet at the Willard Hotel and an evening concert at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. There is still time to join us – see the details here.

March 7 Inauguration Events

David J. Kent is a lifelong Lincolnophile and is currently working on a book about Abraham Lincoln’s interest in science and technology. He is also the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and an ebook Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. His next book is about Thomas Edison.

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Happy Birthday, Abraham Lincoln

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Lincoln Quote BustToday is the 206th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, our 16th and perhaps most well known President. And as usual, I’m chasing Abraham Lincoln.

Those who know me already understand that though my career has been in science, I’ve continued to research Abraham Lincoln independently. It began for some unremembered reason when I was young, and has continued throughout my life. Seems I’m always chasing Lincoln somewhere, and I admit having a few odd Lincoln collectibles around the house/storage. One of my prize possessions is the bust that serves as today’s photo.

It seems Lincoln has come into vogue again. A ton of special exhibits and events have been going on since his 200th birthday in 2009 and have continued over the last four years as we celebrate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. The presence of a fellow Illinoisian in the White House also sparked a great deal of interest. Besides the obvious connections, it helped that President Obama himself has a fascination with Lincoln, even to the point of reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals on the campaign trail (at 850 pages, not a minor effort!) and using Lincoln’s own bible to take the oath of office.

I, too, read Team of Rivals during the bicentennial year of his birth, and like many of my nearly 1000 books on Lincoln, it’s a signed first edition. Ironically, I had been waiting for the years leading up to the bicentennial so I could help celebrate Lincoln’s birth, but then found myself relocated to a life in Brussels, Belgium during that time and missed most of the special events. Since my return to the states, however, I’ve become even more active in Lincoln-related events, joining the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia (LGDC) and this past year becoming Vice President of Outreach and Education.

In fact, LGDC will celebrate Lincoln’s birthday tonight with dinner and a lecture by acclaimed author Joseph Fornieri.

So while I’ve been chasing Lincoln most of my life, I’m very glad that so many others have finally discovered him. He is even much more fascinating – and complex – than most people realize.

Happy birthday, Mr. President, Abraham Lincoln!

David J. Kent is a lifelong Lincolnophile and is currently working on a book about Abraham Lincoln’s interest in science and technology. He is also the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and an ebook Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. His next book is about Thomas Edison.

“Like” me on my Facebook author’s page and share the news with your friends using the buttons below. Also check me out on Goodreads.

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Book Review – Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason by David Hirsch and Dan Van Haften

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Structure of ReasonThe main thesis of this book is that Abraham Lincoln’s greatness came from his mastery of the “six-books of Euclid” geometry, and the subsequent application of the six elements of Euclid into his logic, reasoning, and speeches.

Hirsch (a lawyer) and Van Haften (and engineer) demarcate many of Lincoln’s speeches, letters, and lectures into Euclid’s six elements: Enunciation, Exposition, Specification, Construction, Proof, and Conclusion. They use voluminous quotes and passages from Lincoln’s writings and employ an equally voluminous and liberal system of endnotes.

Overall, the authors have done an excellent job of documenting Lincoln’s use of logic and reasoning, as well as how the elements of Euclid can be used to parse out his speeches and letters. In my view they were somewhat less successful in teasing out whether the structure of Lincoln’s writings is the result of his active employment of Euclidean principles or that his natural inclination toward logically oriented demonstration simply backfits well into demarcation according to those principles.

While the use of long passages gives us much context into the topics being discussed by Lincoln, the authors offered little analysis other than the demarcation. This is especially true in the many appendices in which entire Lincoln speeches and letters are categorized into the six elements but no additional analysis discusses how these elements were defined by Lincoln. In fairness, some of these (e.g., the Cooper Union speech) were discussed more in depth in the book’s chapters, but the discussion throughout could have used more analytical discussion.

I also found the book to be, in essence, two books. The first is the Euclidean influence on Lincoln as I’ve focused on in this review, but a significant part of the book is about the legal profession and how Euclid’s elements may help lawyers better themselves with respect to courtroom presentation and brief writing. In these chapters, which make up much of the book, Lincoln is brought in anecdotally but isn’t the main focus. Therefore, those interested in Lincoln may drift off during the non-Lincoln legal process discussions. Each chapter ends with a section called “From Lincoln to Now” in which the authors record changes in technology and legal procedures through the present. This section may or may not be of interest to Lincoln readers.

The Euclidean influence on Lincoln is fascinating and the authors often provided useful insights for my own research on Lincoln’s interest in science and technology. The text itself can be rather dry and technical, so this book is a better fit for serious Lincoln scholars than the general public. While readers may or may not agree that the authors have met the expectations set by their preamble, I personally liked the book.

David J. Kent is a lifelong Lincolnophile and is currently working on a book about Abraham Lincoln’s interest in science and technology. He is also the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and an ebook Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

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Abraham Lincoln Book Acquisitions for 2014

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Lincoln book towerI’m lucky to have a growing collection of books about Abraham Lincoln. Nowhere near the 15,000 books reportedly written about our 16th President, but my sagging bookshelves now hold over 900 titles. The number of actual books is well over 1000 when one figures that some “titles” are 3 or 6 or 10-book sets.

This year I obtained just over 60 new titles, far short of what I obtained in 2013. While I haven’t done a comparison, I may have obtained more books this year directly from the authors, along with their signatures and inscriptions. Forty-three of the newly obtained books are first editions, 14 are signed, 11 are inscribed, and seven are signed and inscribed to me personally. One book, in fact, was signed and inscribed to me by all three of its authors at the recent Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, where I had the privilege of meeting Tom Horrocks, Harold Holzer, and Frank Williams.

I took on the role of VP of Outreach and Education for the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia in 2014, and LGDC has presented many opportunities to meet outstanding Lincoln scholars and authors. John Barr, Jonathan W. White, James Conroy and Tom Horrocks all gave presentations this year. Joseph Fornieri, whom I met at the Forum in Gettysburg, will be our Lincoln’s birthday speaker in February 2015.

The oldest book on the 2014 list of acquisitions is a 1909 “centennial” edition of Lincoln’s first and second inaugural speeches. The newest book is Harold Holzer’s Lincoln and the Power of the Press, published this fall and signed to me by Harold at the Lincoln Forum in November. I’m currently reading it so stay tuned for a book review when I’m finished.

Other special books this year include a book about Mentor Graham, who was mentor in both name and function during Lincoln’s early manhood in New Salem, Illinois. I also obtained a copy of Kirkham’s Grammar, the textbook Lincoln used to learn basic writing skills. Another favorite is Jonathan W. White’s new book Emancipation, The Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln. I’m looking forward to trekking down to Newport News, where Jonathan has volunteered to show me around the USS Monitor exhibit the Mariner’s Museum.

While writing this I realized I actually have obtained many more books than are currently listed. As I continue the research for my forthcoming book I’ve been downloading PDF files of several books that helped shape Lincoln’s education over his lifetime. I’ll have to catalog them and do a separate post in the future.

Much more to come…2015 looks to be an exciting year. See the list of books below.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over 30 years, is a lifelong Lincolnophile, and is currently working on a book about Abraham Lincoln’s interest in science and technology. He is also the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and an ebook Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.

Here’s the 2014 list:

Abraham Lincoln: First and Second Inaugural Addresses (and other speeches) 1909
Lincoln’s Last Speech in Springfield in the Campaign of 1858 1925
Ambrose, Stephen E. Nothing Like It In The World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 2000
Angle, Paul M. A Shelf of Lincoln Books: A Critical Bibliography of Lincolniana 1946
Bacon, Benjamin W. Sinews of War: How Technology, Industry, and Transportation Won the Civil War 1997
Baringer, William E. Lincoln Day by Day: A Chronology 1809-1865, Volume I: 1809-1848; Volume II: 1849-1860; Volume II: 1861-1865 1960
Barr, John McKee Loathing Lincoln: An American Tradition From the Civil War to the Present 2014
Barton, William E. Abraham Lincoln And His Books 1920
Bauer, Charles J. The Odd Couple Who Hanged Mary Surratt! (Preston King and Jim Lane) 1980
Bishop, Jim The Day Lincoln Was Shot 1955
Borritt, Gabor (ed) The Gettysburg Nobody Knows 1999
Boritt, Gabor S. (ed) Lincoln The War President 1992
Bray, Robert Reading with Lincoln 2010
Brown University Books at Brown 1960
Bruce, Robert V. The Launching of Modern American Science 1987
Burkhimer, Michael 100 Essential Lincoln Books 2003
Burlingame, Michael Honest Abe, Dishonest Mary 1994
Conroy, James B. Our One Common Country: Abraham Lincoln and the Hampton Roads Peace Conference of 1865 2014
Corry, John A. Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Him President 2003
Denenberg, Barry Lincoln Shot: A President’s Life Remembered 2008
Dennett, Tyler (Ed) Lincoln and the Civil War in the Diaries and Letters of John Hay 1988
Duncan, Kunigunde and D.F. Nickols Mentor Graham: The Man Who Taught Lincoln 1944
Fairfax County Civil War Centennial Commission Fairfax County and the War Between the States 1987
Fletcher, George P. Our Secret Constitution: How Lincoln Redefined American Democracy 2001
Fornieri, Joseph R. Abraham Lincoln: Philosopher Statesman 2014
Gary, Ralph Following in Lincoln’s Footsteps: A Complete Annotated Reference to Hundreds of Historical Sites Visited by Abraham Lincoln 2001
Goodheart, Adam 1861: The Civil War Awakening 2011
Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs 1999
Haydon, F. Stansbury Military Ballooning during the Early Civil War 2000
Herdon, William H. and Weik, Jesse William Herndon’s Life of Lincoln 1942
Holzer, Harold Lincoln and the Power of the Press 2014
Holzer, Harold Lincoln: How Abraham Lincoln Ended Slavery in America 2012
Horrocks, Thomas A. Lincoln’s Campaign Biographies 2014
Horrocks, Thomas A., Holzer, Harold, and Williams, Frank J. (Editors) The Living Lincoln 2011
Humes, James C. The Wit & Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln: A Treasury of Quotations, Anecdotes, and Observations 1999
Jorgenson, Tim Mrs. Keckly Sends Her Regards 2007
Katcher, Philip The Civil War Day By Day 201
Kirkham, Samuel Kirkham’s Grammar: The Book That Shaped Lincoln’s Prose 1999
Martin, Iain C. Worthy of Their Esteem: The Timeless Words and Sage Advice of Abraham Lincoln, America’s Greatest President 2009
Mead, Franklin B. Heroic Statues in Bronze of Abraham Lincoln 1932
Miller, Richard Lawrence Lincoln and his World: Prairie Politician 1834-1842 2008
Mills, Eric Chesapeake Bay in the Civil War 1996
O’Reilly, Bill and Zimmerman, Dwight Jon Lincoln’s Last Days: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever 2012
Percoco, James A. Summers with Lincoln: Looking For The Man in the Monuments 2008
Poleskie, Stephen The Balloonist: The Story of T.S.C. Lowe – Inventor, Scientist, Magician, and Father of the U.S. Air Force 2007
Randall, J.G. Mr. Lincoln 1957
Rice, Wallace The Lincoln Year Book ?
Riddle, Donald W. Lincoln Runs for Congress 1948
Ross, Charles Trial by Fire: Science, Technology and the Civil War 2000
Sandburg, Carl Abe Lincoln Grows Up 1956
Stashower, Daniel The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War 2013
Steiner, Mark E. An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln 2006
Stoddard, William O. Inside the White House in War Times: Memoirs and Reports of Lincoln’s Secretary 2000
Thomas, Benjamin P. Lincoln’s New Salem 1987
Thompson, Frank Abraham Lincoln: Twentieth Century Portrayals 1999
Tyrner-Tyrnauer, A.R. Lincoln and the Emperors 1962
Waugh, John C. One Man Great Enough: Abraham Lincoln’s Road to the Civil War 2007
Waugh, John C. One Man Great Enough: Abraham Lincoln’s Road to the Civil War 2007
White, Jonathan W. Emancipation, The Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln 2014
Widmer, Ted (Ed) The New York Times Disunion 2013
Wilson, Douglas L. Lincoln before Washington: New Perspectives on the Illinois Years 1997
Wilson, Douglas L. Lincoln’s Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words 2006
Zeitz, Joshua Lincoln’s Boys: John Hay, John Nicolay, and the War for Lincoln’s Image 2014
Lincoln Takes Norfolk 1983
Lincoln Herald Fall 1966 1966
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A Civil War Christmas

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The American Civil War was a time of great strife in the nation. Over 620,000 men died on both sides of the conflict. In keeping with the somber spirit of the times, President Abraham Lincoln sent no Christmas cards and set up no Christmas tree. Of course, Christmas itself didn’t become a national holiday until President Ulysses S. Grant signed a congressional bill into law in 1870.

That’s not to say that Christmas wasn’t important. In fact, Christmas was getting a lot of press in the 1850s and 60s, which is one of the reasons why Grant did what he did. The brutality of the Civil War also played a role in the resurgence of Christmas in American life. Ironically, it was the non-religious aspects of Christmas that saw the biggest growth during this period. Not the least of which was the popularization of Santa Claus.

While Santa may have had some origins in St. Nicholas and other regional folklore, he evolved into the jolly old elf we know today thanks in large part to Thomas Nast, a prolific illustrator and cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly magazine. It was Nast who first introduced Santa Claus (aka, Father Christmas) – as a recruiting tool for the Union army! One iconic image from the January 3, 1863 issue of Harper’s, has Santa “on a sleigh handing out packages to Union soldiers in Civil War camp.”

Thomas Nast 1863 Christmas

Another showed a Union soldier home on furlough for the holidays (Santa lurks in the left hand panel).

Thomas Nast Christmas 1863

So Santa became propaganda, rallying behind the Union war effort. The South used this to their advantage as well, telling children that those evil Yankees might block Santa’s route from the North Pole down to Confederate territory. This, of course, was long before Coca-Cola turned Santa into a soft drink marketing campaign and Hallmark made a fortune selling Christmas cards.

There was one rather important Christmas celebration for Abraham Lincoln. General William Tecumseh Sherman, who had been decimating a path toward the sea throughout the fall of 1864, wired Lincoln in the White House on December 22nd. The wire said:

“I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah.”

He also had captured “150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition,” along with “about 25,000 bales of cotton.” An ecstatic Lincoln replied with “many, many, thanks for your Christmas gift.” As devastating was Sherman’s destruction during his march, it helped bring the war to an end a few months later.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from me and Science Traveler. Watch for much, much more in the new year.

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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[Note: This is a slightly modified version of an article first posted in 2013]

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Book Review – Moonlight: Abraham Lincoln and the Almanac Trial by John Evangelist Walsh

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Walsh Almanac TrialMost people only think of Abraham Lincoln as our 16th President, but prior to that Lincoln had a long career as a lawyer. Much of his legal work was mundane, but he did occasionally get involved in some high profile cases that showed his logic and guile.

Author John Evangelist Walsh brings to light one such case in his book Moonlight: Abraham Lincoln and the Almanac Trial. Moonlight is about one of the few murder trials that Abraham Lincoln ever served as defense counsel. Tried in a single day in 1858, just a few months before beginning his campaign for the US Senate in Illinois, Lincoln successfully defended William “Duff” Armstrong on the charge of killing a man in a fight. A co-defendant, James Norris, had been tried separately and had been convicted; he was already serving an eight year sentence. The trial came to be known as the “Almanac” trial because of Lincoln’s adept use of an almanac to demonstrate that the moon was perhaps not so directly overhead as the key witness had suggested. The insinuation, of course, is that the witness could not have been so sure about his description of the incident as he had come across on direct testimony.

Possibly the most interesting thing about the trial was the fact that Lincoln wore a white suit, a far cry from his normal rumpled black suits of fame. There was some rumor that the almanac had somehow been tampered with, a rumor long since shown to be specious. In short, the almanac evidence actually didn’t negate the witness’s testimony, merely created some uncertainty in an otherwise certain insistence of events by the witness. And “reasonable doubt” is all that a defense attorney must elicit from the jury. Lincoln did that and Armstrong, the son of a longtime friend of Lincoln’s, went free.

The book itself is fairly short, and actually not very robust as a work of scholarship. The writing is uneven and the author doesn’t really delve too deeply into events. Overall it seems like Walsh could have put a little more effort into the volume. Still, it gives a lightweight glimpse into a famous trial…a glimpse if not satisfying in its own right, may be just enough to wet the taste for a greater exploration of Lincoln’s casework.

David J. Kent is a lifelong Lincolnophile and is currently working on a book about Abraham Lincoln’s interest in science and technology. He is also the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and an ebook Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.

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Three Books about Abraham Lincoln and His Books

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Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln grew up reading everything he could get his hands on in the largely illiterate western frontier of 19th century America. So it’s no small irony that estimates of books written about Abraham Lincoln run over 15,000 volumes. Some day I’ll count up the number of books about Lincoln I’ve read (I’m guessing over 200) but for now I’ll give you three quick reviews of books related to Lincoln’s own love of books. All of these and more can be found on my Goodreads page under “read” books.

Abraham Lincoln and His Books: With Selections from the Writings of Lincoln and a Bibliography of Books in Print Relating to Abraham Lincoln – William E. Barton (1920)

Interesting small book from 1920 on books Lincoln read, as well as books about Lincoln, with an early bibliography. Also includes several of his speeches and other writings.

A Shelf of Lincoln Books: A Critical, Selective Bibliography of Lincolniana – Paul M. Angle (1946)

Published in 1946, this volume is necessarily outdated, but should definitely not be overlooked. Paul M. Angle was one of the preeminent Lincoln scholars of his day. He has carefully selected about 80 of the thousands of Lincoln books extant at that time, with an eye for those that offer the greatest contribution to Lincoln scholarship and have stood the test of time. Thus, Angle eliminates those books that “were little better than worthless when they were published,” and focuses on those with lasting value.

Despite selecting the best books, Angle is direct in his critiques for any inadequacies he sees in each volume. He notes that many of his comments may reflect a “magisterial tone,” but it is exactly that tone and his authoritative evaluation of each book’s strengths and weaknesses that make this “Shelf” so valuable in its own right.

There is a need for an updated bibliography of Lincoln books, but such an update should start with this volume by Angle.

100 Essential Lincoln Books – Michael Burkhimer (2003)

Very useful book published in 2003. The essential books are listed chronologically, starting with Carpenter’s “The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln: Six Months in the White House” (1866) and ending with Miller’s “Lincoln’s Virtues: An Ethical Biography” (2002). Burkhimer writes in 2-3 pages a combination of summary, highlights, and essay for each of the 100 books he deems “essential.”

His selection is obviously somewhat arbitrary, and the early books sometimes are chosen not because of their staying power but because they were the big (and often, only) books of the day. More culling was necessary for recent decades because the number of books being published about Lincoln has increased rather than drifted off. Given the number of Lincoln books published in the decade since this publication (including, for example, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s stellar “Team of Rivals”), there is a definite need for updating. This book, however, is a wonderful resource for those interested in filling in their Lincoln reading list, as well as for providing insights into the value of each of the books cited.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!