For Collectors Only

For Collectors Only EDITED BY RALPH G. NEWMAN 18 East Chestnut Street Chicago 11, Illinois BASIC LINCOLNIANA The specialist in the Lincoln field is constantly requested to furnish a list of the "best" books about Abraham Lincoln, or a list of the "essential" books necessary for a good basic coUection. In 1935 Dr. Louis A. Warren listed "Fifty Important Lincoln Books" in Lincoln Lore No. 316. In 1936 Paul M. Angle in two articles which appeared in Bulletins No. 43 and 44 of the Abraham Lincoln Association under the title "Basic Lincolniana," furnished a list of what he considered the most worthwhUe Lincoln books. A few years later the late Harry J. Lytle of Davenport, Iowa, suppUed a list of "100 Best Lincoln Books" which appeared as a supplement to The Education of Abraham Lincoln by M. L. Houser. In 1946 Paul M. Angle's A Shelf of Lincoln Books was pubUshed and the eighty titles specified in this volume immediately became accepted as the ownership goal of every Lincoln enthusiast and coUector. In 1951 this writer prepared a list of "One Hundred Books About Abraham Lincoln," being in the main a modification of Angle's "SheU," adding some books published during the intervening five years and eliminating a few titles rendered obsolete by the new pubUcations. Since 1951 the flood of new Lincoln books has continued. During this period some of the greatest contributions to Lincolniana have made their appearance, including the definitive edition of The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin P. Thomas' Abraham Lincoln, James G. RandaU 's Lincoln the President, and the first four volumes of WiUiams' Lincoln Finds a General. I have been urged to prepare a new listing of 199 200RALPH G. NEWMAN "basic" books in the Lincoln field, taking into account the influence of the significant pubUcations of the past six years and their influence on the titles which up to that time had been regarded as "essential." To limit a list to an arbitrary figure, whether it be fifty or one hundred, seems foolish, and I am rather embarrassed when I recaU that I was gudty of doing so. It is much more important to determine (at least to the satisfaction of a few people) just what the best books about Abraham Lincoln are, than it is to force or stretch a list to fit a preconceived number. This list is certainly not intended to discourage those who are building aU-inclusive Lincoln coUections, but realizing the limitations that confront most coUectors, who, if they do not lack the necessary funds, are short of shelf space, I submit this list as my contribution toward solving the Lincoln collectors' book-housing problem. In the list foUowing the Monaghan Lincoln Bibliography number is given if the title appears in that work (M. 3368, etc.). While no attempt is made to list every edition of every work, the first edition and aU major editions are recorded. I invite your comment and criticism and hope you wiU forgive me if I have omitted your favorite book. ANGLE, PAUL McCLELLAND. Lincoln 1854-1861 Being the Day-by-Day Activities of Abraham Lincoln from January 1, 1854 to March 4, 1861. Springfield : The Abraham Lincoln Association. [1933] . (M. 3368) . ANGLE, PAUL McCLELLAND. "Here I Have Lived" A History of Lincoln's Springfield, 1821-1865. Springfield: The Abraham Lincoln Association. [1935] (M. 3464). [New edition], New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. [1950]. ANGLE, PAUL McCLELLAND. A Shelf of Lincoln Books. A Critical Selective Bibliography. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. [1946]. ANGLE, PAUL McCLELLAND, editor. The Lincoln Reader. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. [1947]. [Reprinted], (a), New York: Grosset & Dunlap. [1950]. (b), New York: Pocket Books, Inc. [1954]. ANGLE, PAUL McCLELLAND and EARL SCHENCK MIERS, editors. The Living Lincoln. His Mind, His Times, and the War He Fought. Reconstructed from His Own Writings. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. [1955]. ARNOLD, ISAAC NEWTON. The Life of Abraham Lincoln. Chicago: Jansen, McClurg & Company. [1885] . (M. 1010) . [Large paper edition] , Special Edition of 375 numbered copies, uncut. Chicago: Jansen, McClurg & Companv. [1885]. (M. 1010 note). BALLARD, COLIN ROBERT. The Military Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Oxford University Press. London: Humphrey Milford. [1926]. (M. 2832). [New...