LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY MEMORIAL the Class of 1901 founded by HARLAN HOYT HORNER and HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER L Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/abrahamlincolnstOOhous Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln, OTudenl. I lis Dooks i B 4 M. L HOUSER Privatelu Printed and Mot lor Oal< DESIGNED AND PRINTED BY EDWARD J. JACOB AT HIS SHOP IN PEORIA, ILLINOIS 1932 Copyright 1932 M. L. HOUSER Peoria, Illinois 7?- CTZHIS pamphlet is virtually a revision of one ^entitled "The Boo\s That Lincoln Read," published a few months ago by Edward J. Jacob. Since the publication of that monograph, several new titles have become \nown to us; one, we have found, must be discarded. We have not yet been able to determine, and may never definitely \now, whether Mr. Lincoln studied specific boo\s by certain contemporary writers, or only some of these authors' detached essays, poems and speeches. We acknowledge with grateful appreciation the corrections, criticisms, suggestions, and in- formation that we have received from many friends. — M. L. H. Peoria, III, Feb. 12, 1932 Thomas Lincoln's Bible ABRAHAM L1NCOL N, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS Abraham Lincoln, Student His Books Many of Abraham Lincoln's biographers have remarked how little his intellectual development was affected by schools and how much it was influenced by books. His aggregate attendance at schools amounted to less than one year, but he was always an assiduous student of books. A WORTHY ANCESTRY Mr. Lincoln's first American ancestor, as is now well known, was one Samuel Lincoln who came to Hingham, Massachusetts from England in 1737- Many of the descendants of Samuel Lincoln were men of wealth, learning, and influence. One was head of the Massachusetts bar, Attorney General and Secretary of State of the United States, and declined an appointment to the Supreme Court. Another was Governor of Maine, and a writer of more than ordinary ability. Over 350 of the family were soldiers in the Revolutionary War; and when, in 1882, the old church at Hingham celebrated its two-hundredth anniversary, half of the Committee on Publication were Lincolns. At an early day, some of the more enterprising and adventurous of the family removed successively to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The grandfather for whom Abraham was named followed Boone into Kentucky, settled on a farm near the present site of Louisville, and was there killed by an Indian. At that time, Abraham's father, Thomas, was but six years of age. ABRAHAM'S KENTUCKY ENVIRONMENT During the thirty years that intervened between the death of the elder Abraham and the removal of Thomas Lincoln and his family to Indiana, the population of Kentucky increased from less than 70,000 to more than 500,000. Hardin County, alone, attained a population of between eight and ten thousand. Lexington became a sizable city, and was a center of culture and trade. Ken' tucky and its various subdivisions throbbed with civic activity. Schools, seminaries, and academies were opened; library associations incorporated; and courts firmly established. Books were not so plentiful then as they are now, of course, but they could be obtained. At the time Abraham was six years old, the bookstore at Bards- 171 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS r-as«5s 4 » --■ •< A N E W G *ra* Dilworth's New Guide to the English Tongue published >f mi t ^ braham,S first *?*«*. ^rt known as "Dilworth's Speller, published in 1791. It may, or may not, be the particular edition that he studied I8J ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS town, where Thomas often attended court, advertised in the local paper that it was carrying "a general assortment of books of the most approved authors, with school books of every description.' 1 Almost any book that might be desired was obtainable at Lexington; those most likely to be called for were sold in the smaller towns. While each library in a neighborhood was small, perhaps only three or four volumes, the aggregate of all the books in a community made a very respectable collection. Any one of them could be borrowed by whoever might wish to read it. Instead of being born in the squalor depicted by some of his biographers, young Abraham probably came into what was— for that time and place — a rather superior rural home. At the time of his advent, his father owned over 500 acres of land, and was a well-respected and prosperous citizen. Being a skilled carpenter, Thomas had probably furnished their cabin in a way that made Nancy Lincoln the envy of many neighboring housewives. This cabin was then substantially larger than it is now, it having since been reduced in size to make its display more convenient. Thomas Lincoln had secured only the rudiments of an education, though he wrote a good, legible hand. His son once said of him: My father suffered greatly for want of an education, and he deter- mined at an early day that I should be well-educated. * * * * We had an old dog-eared Arithmetic in our house, and father determined that some- how, or somehow else, I should cipher clear through that book. Of his mother, Mr. Lincoln said : She was of medium stature, dark, with soft and rather mirthful eyes. She was passionately fond of reading. Every book she could lay her hands on was eagerly read. My earliest recollection of her is of sitting at her feet, with my sister, drinking in the tales and legends that she read or related to us. Just how old Abraham was when he learned to read is not known. In the Scripps campaign biography, published in 1860, the manuscript of which Mr. Lincoln read and revised to insure its meticulous accuracy, we are told that his mother taught him to read the Bible when he was a child, and that when he left Kentucky, in his eighth year, he had "skill as a penman," and thereafter "acted as amanuensis for the neighborhood." TEXT-BOOKS The first text-book that the boy studied was Dilworth's Spelling Book. This little work was first published in England in 1740. It was copied by American printers, soon ranked as the leading elementary text-book of the 19! ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS colonies, and remained in vogue for some years after the close of the Revolution- ary War. It is a combination speller, reader, and grammar. The first spelling lesson starts with syllables like "ha" and "be," and the last one ends with words like "Ec cle si a sti cus" and "Me so po ta mi a." The reading lessons are made up of sentences intended to teach morality and piety; as, "He must live well, that will die well"; and "He that doth love God, God will love him." In the part devoted to grammar we are told: "A verb is a part of speech that betokens Being; as, I live: Doing; as, I love: Suffering; as, I am loved." The second book that Abraham studied was probably Webster's American Spelling Book. It copied the Dilworth work pretty faithfully, but taught a little more science and not quite so much piety. Because of its American origin, it soon superceded its rival; and royalties from its sale supported the author while he was writing his dictionary. Seventy-five million copies of its various editions had been sold before its publication was discontinued. His four school readers — Murray's English Reader, Scott's Lessons in Elocution, Lowe's Columbian Class Book, and The Kentucky Preceptor — con- tain a total of over 1,200 pages of fine print. Extracts, complete addresses, and entire poems, all by masters of English and American literature, are included. Among the authors represented are Dr. Johnson, Milton, Addison, Goldsmith, Cowper, Pope, Gray, Gouverneur Morris, and John Adams. One whole section of the Scott book is devoted to such Shakespearian gems as "Hamlet's Soliloquy" and "Cardinal Wolsey's Lament." It has been suggested that probably some of Lincoln's biographers who have shed scalding tears over his early ignorance and lack of opportunity never themselves became as well grounded in English literature as he did through his study of the "pieces" included in these readers. Mr. Lincoln once said that he believed the Murray work to be the best school- book ever placed in the hands of a child. Other text-books that he is known to have studied at various times are: Kirkham's Grammar; Blair's Rhetoric; Pike's Arithmetic; Day's Algebra; Flint's Geometry, Trigonometry, and Rectangular Surveying; Gibson's Theory and Practice of Surveying; Olmstead's Astronomy; and Simson's Euclid. The Kirkham and Blair works were studied by him at New Salem in company with Ann Rutledge, and either book is dry and difficult enough to make a splendid foil for any romance. THE LINCOLNS REMOVE TO INDIANA Before Abraham was eight years old, Thomas Lincoln had lost practically all of his property, principally through defective land-titles; so they decided to move over into Indiana, where the government had surveyed the land into 1 101 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS square sections, and land titles were secure. Then followed, for some months, what Mr. Lincoln afterwards referred to as "pretty pinching times." When Thomas Lincoln migrated to Southwestern Indiana, that part of the State was almost a wilderness; but a tremendous influx of settlers soon began to arrive. These new settlers gave the Lincolns an occasional employ ment which they were glad to obtain. While their wages were relatively low, the small additional sums so earned were to them a very material assistance. His work among the neighbors gave Abraham an opportunity to find out what books were had, to read some of them while employed, and borrow others when he went home. William Wood, David Turnham, and Josiah Crawford, three close neighbors, had small collections which he studied diligently. Judge John Pitcher of Rockport, the leading attorney of the county, both lent him books and advised him regarding his studies. It is claimed that he was some- times a welcome guest at the home of Judge Brackenridge of Booneville, and that he occasionally made use of the Judge's 450-volume library. Mr. Lincoln once told Leonard Swett that when he was a boy in Indiana he "borrowed and read every book he could hear of for fifty miles around." While that state- ment need not be taken too literally, it indicates that he made good use of all the resources that were available. Among others who came to Indiana at that time were 100 English families who formed a colony only thirty-five miles from the Lincoln farm. These colonists, generally, were educated, moral, and friendly; and some of them had brought along their libraries. Abraham probably met many of them at Boone- ville, where he often attended court. Judge Iglehart, the leading local historian, is confident that young Lincoln did not neglect this opportunity to secure the use of books that otherwise would not have been available to him. A few years later, Robert Owen resolved to make his colony at New Harmony, only a little farther away, the Center of American Education; and, to accomplish that, he brought there the greatest coterie of scientists and educa- tors that had yet been assembled in America. Abraham was enabled to keep in touch with their activities and teachings through newspapers published at Vincennes, New Harmony, Evansville, Louisville, and Corydon, all of which papers he probably read. It is doubtful if he could have secured at any other place in the country the benefits of pioneer life and at the same time have grown up under the in- fluence of so much culture. His advancement under these conditions is in- dicated by the reaction of the people he met when he went to Illinois. Within little more than a year after his arrival at New Salem, he had been elected captain of his company in the Black Hawk War; had received 277 out of the 284 votes ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS THE KENTUCKY PRECEPTOR, CONTAINING A NUMBER OF USEFUL LESSONS FOR READING AND SPEAKING, COMPILED FOR TUE USE OF SCHOOLS. BY A TEACHER. delightful task ! to rear the tender thought, To teach the voting idea how to shoot, To pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind, To breathe the enlivening spirit, and to fix The generous purpose Lnfthe glowing breast. Thompson. THIRD EDITION, REVISED, WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS- COPT-MGHT SECCBED ACC0KDI5O TO UW, IJEXINGTON, (Ki.) PUBLISHED BX MACCOON, TILFOB0 & CO* 1812. Kentucky Preceptor. The copy of this book that young Lincoln studied is now owned by Oliver R. Barrett. The only other copy of which the writer knows is in his own collection. The title page of the latter being missing, the one shown above was supplied by Mr. Barrett. [12] A BRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS in his own precinct for membership in the General Assembly of the State; had attracted the favorable notice of the leading attorneys and politicians of Spring- field; and had so impressed his associates that some of them regarded him as "the greatest man that had ever lived." BIOGRAPHY When he arrived in Indiana, Abraham had already studied one work in biography— Weem's Life of Washington. This is the volume in which was first told the cherry-tree story, and about George's saying: "I can't tell a lie, Pa; you know I can't tell a lie. I did cut it with my hatchet." Finding that a neighbor for whom he worked had a better Life of Washington— Ramsey's, Abraham borrowed it when he went home. This is the book that got damaged by rain, and for which he paid by topping corn for three days. Only boys who have themselves reveled in Weem's Life of Marion and Franklin's Autobiography can fully realize how much enjoyment he derived from them. Each is a classic, with a style all its own; and the latter has probably fascinated more boys, and left its impress upon a greater number of characters, than any other American biography. We can easily believe, too, that when he read Riley's Narrative, which relates the adventures of a sea captain after his brig was wrecked on the coast of Africa, he found it entrancing— as many boys have done since. This book is said to have been so popular in South- western Indiana at that time that it sometimes constituted the whole library in a pioneer home. Many writers have repeated, upon the authority of Scripps, that Lincoln read Plutarch's Lives while living in Indiana. That famous work contains character sketches of many Greek and Roman celebrities, and is our primary authority for countless facts of ancient history. In subsequent years, Mr. Lincoln is known to have read Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry and Burke's (or Prior's) Life of Burke, both of which he thought too laudatory; also, Holland's Martin Van Buren, Drake's Life of Black Hawk, Flint's Life of Daniel Boone, and an American Military Biography. The copy which he is supposed to have read of the last-named work is now in this writer's collection. Mr. Lincoln's own 1860 Campaign Life, written by John Locke Scripps, was read by its subject in manuscript; and Scripps afterwards said that the way Lincoln revised it, and deleted some of its most readable and interesting passages, would have disconcerted any biographer. A copy of his own Life 6? Speeches, written by Howells and Hayes in 1860, was presented by him to a Democrat friend with the inscription, "Yours in friendship if not in Politics." In 1863, the publishers of Thayer's Pioneer Boy presented Mr. Lincoln with a 1131 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS ENGLISH GRAMMAR; sf fl/Htr in ft*+tn mj? FAMILIAR LECTURES ACCOMPANIED B* i^Z** ■***+*>**■ ■ A COMPENDIUM? EMBRACING \ NEW SYSTEMATIC !\ ORDER OF PARSING, NSW SYSTEM OF^IM/NOTCATION, EXERCISES IN FALSE SYNTAX. AMI A KEY TO THE EXERCISES s . designed ' ■ :!> 'OR THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND PRIVATE LEARNER&v' " •"..'• BY SAMUEL KIRKH AM SIXTH EDITION, NLARGED AND MUCH IMPROVE©- CINCINNATI; ^SmMSEb BY N & G GUILFORD, AT THEIR Ti\ K I i XkL.N'S HEAD, 14, LOWER MARKET STRLKi sto m-. it M. & O. PJJRXSHORTH, JR. PRINTERS. 1828, Kirkham's Grammar This picture of the identical Kirkham Grammar that Abraham Lincoln studied at New Salem and later presented to Ann Rutledge is shown here through the courtesy of Miss Jane Hamand, Schaller, Iowa, the Doner, and Miss Minnie A. Dill, Custodian, The Lincoln'Rutledge Memorial Collection, Decatur, Illinois. 1 14] A B R AHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS specially bound copy that is now in the splendid Barrett collection. Under Thayer's name on the title page, apparently written by some member of the Lincoln family, is the notation, "The Champion Liar of History." HISTORY If, as has been supposed, the boy's initial acquaintance with history was gained through a study of Grimshaw's History of the United States, he was fortunate; and he probably never afterward found a better book on that subject. Accounts of the principal incidents that occurred in America up to the close of the Second War with Great Britain are accurately told in it, and with a wealth of interesting detail. Several editions were printed, and it is the probable source of many stories that are related in modern histories. Its author's con- servative but convincing arguments in favor of the gradual emancipation of negro slaves would also commend it to young Lincoln. That he later read Hale's History of the United States is indicated by his autograph being in a copy now in the collection of John S. Little of Rushville, Illinois. Other historical works that he subsequently read are: Rollin's Ancient History, Worcester's Ancient and Modern History, Gibbon's Roman Empire, Hallam's Middle Ages, and Ford's History of Illinois. In the Ford book, Mr. Lincoln is named as a leader among the "spared monuments of public wrath" whose financial legislation between 1834 and 1840 "brought down the State to that ruin which all cool, reflecting men saw from the start was inevitable." PROSE LITERATURE His first excursion into the realm of literature not primarily intended for instruction probably occurred while he was a child in Kentucky, when he got hold of Aesop's Fables. He once declared that he read these stories with so much interest and with such close attention that he could have rewritten them from memory without the loss of a single word. Story telling seems to have been a family trait with the Lincolns, but many believe that the influence of Aesop can also be seen throughout Lincoln's whole career in his proneness to clarify a thought or enforce an argument by the use of an apt illustration or story. It must have been at about this time, too, that he reveled in that classic generally best loved by boys, Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Just when he read Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is not known; but no one will doubt— whenever the time was— that he found it both interesting and thought provoking. One of his good friends in Indiana had a copy of Arabian Nights. [151 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS A BRAHAM LINCOLN, S T U D ^NJL^JH^-^^^ Abraham borrowed it, of course, and then night after night lay before the fire- place leading to the family stories of Sindbad the Sa>lor. Of Cooper s Leather S Sing TaL, he probably read The Pioneers and The Last of the Mohican. Remark that he once made in a speech indicate a close acquaintance mj* Cervantes" Don Quixote. His familiarity with the character of Samuel Weller £ convinced Ohver R. Barrett that Lincoln read Dickens' Pickw.c : Papers Both he and Mr. Jacob believe, too, that the humor in that book .s of a tod that Lincoln would thoroughly enjoy. Once, when speaking of Dickens Mr. Lin eoln said: "His works of fiction are so near the reality that the author seems to have picked up his material from actual life as he elbowed his way through its crowded thoroughfares." William H. Herndon says that at New Salem Lincoln read Caroline Lee Hentt' novels. These stories are of the Bertha M. Clay type; so much so that one has a right to doubt that he found them v«y "tttrtauung; and te » reported to have said, later in life, that he had never read a novel clear through. POETRY Shakespeare's Poems always remained his favorite book of verse. Arnold says that when Lincoln traveled over the circuit he often carried with him a copy of Shakespeare to read during spare moments. Burns Poems was his second choice. He committed to memory, and often recited Holy Willie s Prayer " Other favorites were "Tarn o' Shanter" and ' A Man s a Man for a' That " Byron's Poems, which he first read when a boy, never entirely lost its charm for him. In his later years, he enjoyed Eliza Cook's Poems. She is best remembered as the author of the poem beginning: I love it, I love it, and who shall dare To chide me for loving that old arm chair? "Mortality," or, "Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?" was the single poem that Lincoln loved best. He first saw it in a newspaper, and committed it to memory. For twenty years, he unsuccessfully sought for the name of the author-William Knox, a native of Scodand^ General Jam s Grant Wilson, another Scotsman, claimed that during the Civil War he told Mr. Lincoln the name of the writer, and presented the President with a copy of Knox's collected Poems. He read Longfellow's Poems, but in what estimation he held that author is not known. In the writer's collection is a copy of Longfellow that once belonged to James H. Matheny, Mr. Lincoln's groomsman at the Lincoln- 1 odd wedding. Acting as best man for Lincoln impressed Matheny as a matter ot so little importance that he never even mentioned it to his wife or son until they {171 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS made inquiries — after reading Herndon's biography of Lincoln. Joshua F. Speed, probably the closest friend Mr. Lincoln ever had, once said that, when they roomed together at Springfield, Lincoln "read Milton as well as law," and "could quote more poetry than any man in town." Holmes' Poems, Whitman's Leaves of Grass, and Hood's Poems were among the books that Mr. Lincoln cherished during his last years. He believed Holmes' "Last Leaf" to be one of the best examples of pathos in our language. He picked up Herndon's copy of the Whitman book in their office in 1856, read it with absorbing interest, admired the poet's unconventional style, and proph- esied Whitman's future popularity. Nicolay has told how Lincoln once went to the room of his secretaries, late at night and clad only in his nightshirt, to share with them something from Hood that he thought was unusually funny. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and the collected Poems of Pope, Young, Willis, and Halleck were sometimes read by him. MIGRATION TO ILLINOIS In the early spring of 1830, the Lincoln household, which then consisted of Thomas and Abraham, the second Mrs. Lincoln, and ten of her immediate relatives — thirteen people in all — left Spencer County, Indiana for the Sangamo Country of Illinois. They settled on the Sangamon River, about ten miles from Decatur. After getting the family comfortably housed, Abraham, now past twenty-one years of age, started out for himself. He worked among their neighbors; went on a trading voyage to New Orleans; and then settled at New Salem, at which place he remained for about six years. Because of its location on the river, and its apparent prospects, New Salem had attracted to itself some very superior people from widely separated points. Mentor Graham, the schoolmaster there, had a well-selected library of about fifty volumes. Others had fairly good collections of books. Beveridge says that there were many books in and around New Salem, and that the enquiring and insatiable Lincoln read them with infinite care. LAW It was at New Salem that young Lincoln first studied law with the in- tention of adopting it as a profession. He had already studied the Revised Laws of Indiana (1824) at the home of David Turnham, a constable who lived near the Lincolns in Indiana. During his first winter in Illinois, he had read The Revised Code of Laws of Illinois (1829) while laid up with frozen feet at the home of Major William Warnick, Sheriff of Macon County, who lived across the river 118! Aj_ R AHAM LINCOLN, ST u D JBNJT_ 1 _JUS_J_OQ^_S from the Lincoln cabin. The Warnick family afterward claimed, however, that upon that occasion the young man seemed to take more interest in Miss Polly Warnick, the Major's pretty daughter, than he did in the statutes made and provided. And that may all be true enough; but someone has also opined that in later years it was a mighty poor family living near New Salem that was without at least one grandmother who claimed that Lincoln had proposed to her. Securing a set of Blackstone's Commentaries, he studied it, as he once said, with more interest than anything else that he had previously found His devotion to its study was so close at one time that his friends feared for his health The writer's great-uncle, who lived for a year at New Salem, rem- embered seeing young Lincoln, day after day, lying in the shade of a tree, in- tently studying that work. Greenleaf s Evidence, Story's Equity, and Chitty s Pleadings successively engaged his attention. By the time he went to Wash- ington, his law library had grown to about 200 volumes; and many of these law books are still preserved in various collections. RELIGION It appears, also, to have been at New Salem that he first made a serious study of religion. Mention has already been made of his learning to read the Bible while he was a child in Kentucky. How much he studied it throughout parts of his whole career is shown by his intimate knowledge of it during his later years. His ability to quote passages of scripture, giving chapter and verse, was noted by many of those who associated with him at Washington. That he read Volney's Ruins, Paine's Age of Reason, and at least extracts from Voltaire's Works while living at New Salem cannot be questioned; but there is no more reason for believing that he accepted the extreme views of those "infidels," as they were then called, than there is for believing that he accepted all of the theological views advanced in Baxter's Saints' Rest, Butler's Analogy, Hitchcock's Religious Truth, and Paley's Natural Theology, the more-orthodox works that he studied in later years. Following his marriage, he probably read many religious books of which there is no record. Most of his wife's family were devout church members. This writer has six books that came from their libraries; four of these books are on religious subjects. About 1855, Mr. Lincoln became intensely interested in the Sermons and Writings of Dr. William E. Channing; and Jesse W. Fell presented him with a complete set of that preacher-author's works. It is thought that Lincoln found much in Channing's dissertations, on both religion and politics, that tallied perfectly with his own views. F 119! ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS TIIK REVISED LJLWS INDIANA. ADOITKD AND ENACTED BY THL ^y>rwi£3i &%$^m:Kirj AT TIUMK EIGHTH .= E.-SK)X. T*0 WHICH ARE FRSFIShEIJ, I: ri/A DECLjiRJTlOfc OF INDEPENDENCE, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE U. &, THE'VONSTITUTION OF THE UTA TE OF IN&MNAk f ' |l 7 Nt>UY OTHER CTOCOUKSp, CONNECTED WITH TUB POLITICAL HISTORY OK *& THE TERRITORY AND STATE OF INDIANA. ARRANGED AND PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ■ * *RIKTJW) BIT CARPENTER AND VOV « L A* ;#| : . Laws of Indiana. The first law book that young Lincoln studied. The copy he used is now in the collection of William H. Townsend, a distinguished Lincoln authority of Lexington, Kentucky. I 20 J ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS William H. Herndon and Jesse W. Fell believed that Lincoln studied the Sermons and Writings of Theodore Parker with more interest and approval than he did the works of any other religious writer. Dr. Parker was very liberal in his religious views; so much so, that he finally was virtually excluded from the Unitarian fellowship. After that, he spoke to immense audiences at Boston Music Hall. In his beliefs he was anti-supernatural, transcendental, and theis- tic; and his criticism of the Bible anticipated that of many recent orthodox scholars. Charles H. Ray claimed that Mr. Lincoln once said that he stood religiously about where Dr. Parker did. Much has been written about Lincoln's study of Smith's Christian's De- fense. This book contains the addresses which Dr. James Smith made during a debate with an "infidel" in Mississippi. Later, while pastor of the church that the Lincolns attended at Springfield, the author lent a copy of his work to Mr. Lincoln; and it is generally agreed that Lincoln was much impressed by the arguments it contained. After Lincoln became President, he appointed Dr. Smith to a consulate at Dundee, Scotland. LOCATES AT SPRINGFIELD In the spring of 1837, Mr. Lincoln was ready to begin the practice of law; he had already accepted the offer of a partnership at Springfield. Riding to the capital on a borrowed pony, with practically all of his worldly belong' ings in his saddle bags, he secured lodging with Joshua F. Speed and board at the home of William Butler. After practicing for some time with John T. Stuart and Stephen T. Logan, he formed a partnership with William H. Herndon. Herndon, also, was an omnivorous reader of informative literature. Rankin says that at one time Herndon bought and read more new books in science, philosophy, pedagogy, medicine, theology, politics, and general literature than all the other professional people at Springfield put together. Herndon called many of these works to his partner's attention; and Lincoln had now acquired the faculty — common with great men, but unusual with others — of grasping the fundamental thought in a volume while making what appeared to be only a cursory examination. Rankin believed, too, that Mrs. Lincoln's appreciation of the best in literature, and the books they read together in the home, were forceful stimulants to her husband's intellectual life. NATURAL SCIENCE Of the works in natural science that Lincoln studied, the most noted is Chambers' Vestiges of Creation. This book was first published anonymously at Edinburgh in 1844. It teaches that creation comes through natural laws 1211 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS American Military Biography. The copy of this rare book shown above formerly belonged to one of Mr. Lincoln's most in' timate friends. It contains close to 300,000 words. One of its subjects is Benjamin Lincoln, born at Hingham, Massachusetts in 1733, and a major 'general in the Revolutionary War. |22f ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS which work out the purposes of Divine will; and it was a forerunner of our theory of Evolution. Mr. Lincoln read it through in the first edition and again in the sixth. Herndon says that Lincoln was profoundly impressed by it, and that he accepted the development theory that it teaches. A copy of Wells' Annual of Scientific Discovery fell into Lincoln's hands, and he was so pleased with it that he immediately went out and bought all of the volumes then pub- lished, saying that it was exactly the kind of a work that he had long wanted. PHILOSOPHY Of the philosophical works that he studied at one time or another, there can be named: Bacon's Essays, Wealth and Worth, Mill's on Liberty, Burke's Sublime and Beautiful, and Chandler's Elements of Character. The last-named work is of special interest because of incidents connected with his study of it. Apparently, Mr. Lincoln secured a copy; studied it thoughtfully; marked a number of passages that especially interested him; prefixed "Mary" to his name on the flyleaf; and presented the book, so inscribed, to his wife. Regarding the passages to which he called Mrs. Lincoln's attention by underscoring them, Miss Ida M. Tarbell wrote: They are an illuminating comment on the relation which existed between the Lincolns and on his constant effort — as I read him — to achieve a union between them so perfect that "peace will ever dwell within their habitation." POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT Mr. Lincoln's political idol was Henry Clay. As a boy in Kentucky and Indiana, he probably read about his hero only in the newspapers. It is more than possible that soon after his arrival in Illinois he read Prentice's biography of Clay, although there is no direct evidence to prove the assumption. During the campaign in 1856, he carried around with him a late edition of Clay's Life and Speeches; and the copy that he then studied in a search for political am- munition is still preserved. It is known, too, that he sometimes studied Web- ster's Speeches when gathering material for an address. He was tremendously pleased when a firm in Ohio published the Lincoln -Douglas Debates. A copy of this work which he inscribed and presented to a friend was recently sold to a collector for $800. No reference has been found to his reading the Greeley and Cleveland 1860 Campaign Text-Book, but George P. Hambrecht insists that Mr. Lincoln's personal interest in the campaign eliminates any doubt as to his having given that important work his careful study. Elliot's Debates on the Constitution was especially serviceable to him when he was preparing his Cooper Institute speech, as was Hickey's Constitu- tion while he worked on his First Inaugural Address. French's True Republi- 1231 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS can was used by him as a political reference work. As might be expected with one of his sympathetic nature, he was deeply affected when he read Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Beecher's Alton Riots and Sumner's Republican Party furnished him with arguments against slavery. It is said that he did not ap- prove of the violent language used in Helper's Impending Crisis; but Paul M. Angle, probably now our leading Lincoln authority, believes it possible that the statistics and arguments in that book not only supported the more radical of Lincoln's views regarding slavery, but helped prepare the public mind to accept them. By a study of Fitshugh's Sociology for the South, Mr. Lincoln was enabled to get the view-point of the better class of Southern people regard- ing slavery, the Abolitionists, and the rights of the States. After the war began, Kirke's Among the Pines gave him an understanding of the condicions, prejudices, and aspirations of the people of the far South. HUMOR Probably the first book of humor with which he became acquainted was the copy of Quinn's Jests that he found so amusing while a boy in Indiana. The London Music-Hall jokes that it contains are not remarkable for their delicacy. Miller's Jest-Book, which he read later, is also an English publication. It con- tains over 1,200 anecdotes that are supposed to be humorous. Some of them qualify. One of the favorite books of his circuit days was Baldwin's Flush Times of Alabama. He carried a copy with him, and sometimes read aloud from it for the delectation of his associates. He thought one chapter especially funny, and read an earthquake story that it contains again and again. The copy which he owned is now in the collection of Hon. Henry Horner of Chicago, and the pages that tell Lincoln's favorite story show the hard usage that they received. During the most trying periods of the war, he sometimes found relaxation by reading, both to himself and to others, Halpine's Miles o' Reilly, Newell's Orpheus C. Kerr Papers, Marvel's Fudge Doings, and Browne's Artemus Ward. He derived his greatest pleasure, however, from the satirical letters of David R. Locke, who, as Petroleum V. Nasby, wrote the Nasby Letters. Mr. Lincoln sent word to Locke that for the genius to write as that author did he would gladly exchange his office. MISCELLANEOUS WORKS In a letter to General McClellan, Mr. Lincoln once said that he had read nearly all of the important works on military science then extant. Only one of these appears to have been mentioned by biographers and writers — Halleck's Military Art and Science. In a political speech that he made long before the 1241 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS war, he indicated that he was familiar with Scott's Infantry Tactics. Miss Esther Cushman recently found at Brown University an original letter in which Lincoln thanked John F. Callan for a copy of Callan's Military Laws. Whiting's War Powers of the President was consulted by him so frequently at Washington that Carpenter included it in his picture, "The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. " The most interesting reference work that he consulted is Bailey's Etymc logical Dictionary. The identical copy that Lincoln used in Indiana was found a few years ago in Hancock County, Illinois, where some of his cousins had lived. He also left a Webster's Primary Dictionary of 1833 and a Webster's Unabridged Dictionary of 1858. As an aid to his study of the Bible, he used Cruden's Concordance. He undoubtedly was familiar with many books and writers that have never been mentioned by his biographers. Of the books that he owned at one time or another, probably but comparatively few have been found by collectors. He must have studied divers professional works, and read much by contempor- ary essayists and statesmen, about which nothing is now known. That he would read many current biographies and the campaign text-books, some of which he helped prepare, will not be questioned; and Herndon says that he read "all of the leading histories of the slavery movement, and other works which treated on the subject." On the other hand, it is probable that many contemporary authors with whom he was acquainted, and whose books he is supposed to have read, were really known to him only through detached articles, speeches, or poems that were published in newspapers and magazines. Close to forty of such contemporary writers and statesmen have been mentioned by various biographers. REMAINED A STUDENT Mr. Lincoln remained a student until the evening of his last day, and he was planning further studies when the assassin's bullet ended his career. With the exception of some professional and reference works that are of little interest to laymen, there have been mentioned herein most of the books that he is known to have used. We might wish that the list were more complete. A study, however, of a representative list — even when incomplete — is both illuminating and comforting. It is illuminating because we thereby gain some knowledge of Lincoln's tastes and the sources of his culture; comforting, because his final eminence does not seem so inexplicable when we can see even a part of the steps that he took while ascending the height. I25J ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS Lincoln and His Eighth District Friends. Mr. Lincoln and some of the men who were his most intimate friends while he studied and wrought in the old Eighth District — as they appeared during war time. This drawing was made by Grant Wright, an erstwhile resident of Peoria, now a distinguished artist living in New York City, and it was presented by him to Edward J. Jacob. 261 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS Alphabetical List of Authors of Books Lincoln Studied Compiled by Esther Cowles Cushman, Custodian of the Lincoln Collection at Brown University Library. A * indicates that Lincoln s copy is \nown to he extant. References following titles are found in full at end of list. AEsop. "Fables." Herndcn, p. 36. "American Military Biography." Beveridge, v. 1, p. 135. "Appeal to the Friends of Peace." 1849. Mailed under Lincoln s fran\. "Arabian Nights." Rothschild, p. 10. Bacon, Francis. "Miscellaneous Writings." Whitney, p. 126. *Bailey, N. "Universal Etymological English Dictionary." Beveridge, v. 1, p. 73. *Baldwin, J. G. "Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi." Dodge, p. 16. Baxter, R. "The Saints' Everlasting Rest." Barton (c), p. 289. *Beecher, E. "Narrative of the Riots at Alton." Houser, 7v[o. 81. ♦"Bible". Tarbell, v. 1, p. 28. In Oldroyd Collection. *"Bible." (Published at Oxford). K & H. (a) v. 1, p. 194 and v. 5,frontis. Blackstone, W. "Commentaries." Tarbell, v. 1, p. 93. Blair, H. "Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres." Houser, A[o. 8. Browne, C. F. "Artemus Ward; His Book." Whitney, p. 126. Bryant, W. C. "Pcems." Century, Hov., 1890; v. 41, p. 36. Bunyan, J. "The Pilgrim's Progress." Tarbell, v. 1, p. 29. * Burke, E. "A Philosophical Inquiry into . . . the Sublime and Beautiful." Houser, ]%). 42. Burke, P. "Public and Domestic Life of . . . Edmund Burke." Dodge, p. 7. Burns, R. "Poetical Works." Dodge, p. 12. Butler, J. "Analogy of Natural and Revealed Religion." Dodge, p. 17. Byron, G. G. N. "Poetical Works." Dodge, p. 10. Callan, J. F. "Military Laws of the United States." Lincoln's letter regard- ing it at Brown University. Cervantes, S. M. de. "History of Don Quixote." Angle, p. 101. Chambers, R. "Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation." Barton, (c) Ch. 14. 1 271 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS *a*m I 28 J ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS *Chandler, M. G. "The Elements of Character." Sandburg, v. 2, p. 275, 291. Charming, W. E. "Works." Barton (c), p. 175. *Chitty, J. "Treatise on Pleading and Parties to Actions." Herndon, p. 324- *Clay, H. "Life and Speeches of Henry Clay." Lambert, p. 17. *Cook, Elisa. "Complete Poems." Houser, Jvfa. 56. Cooper, J. F. Leather Stocking Tales before 1830. Rothschild, p. 10. Cruden, A. "Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures." Jac\son, p. 8. Daboll, N. "DabolFs Schoolmaster's Assistant." Lincoln Lore, A[o. 67. *Day, J. "Introduction to Algebra." Beveridge, v. 2, p. 222. Defoe, D. "Robinson Crusoe." Tarbell, v. 1, p. 29. Dickens, C. "The Pickwick Papers." Oldroyd, p. 347. Dil worth, T. "New Guide to the English Tongue." Barton (d), v. 1, p. 120. Downing, Major Jack. See Smith, Seba. ♦Drake, B. "Life of Black Hawk." Hill, p. 15, illus. Elliot, J. "Journal and Debates of the Federal Convention." Herndon, p. 455. Emerson, R. W. "Essays." Lamon, p. 494. Everett, Edward. "Address ... at Gettysburg." Barton (b), p. 207-8. Fitzhugh, G. "Sociology for the South." Herndon, p. 363. Flint, A. "System of Geometry ... with Treatise on Surveying." >[. &> H. (b), v. 1, p. 641. *Flint, T. "First White Man of the West." (Boone). Houser, Ho. 35. Ford, T. "A History of Illinois." K & H. (b), v. 1, p. 299. Franklin, B. "Autobiography." Dodge, p. 6. * French, J. "The True Republican." Houser, Np. 77. *Gibbon, E. "History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. " Hern- don, p. 113. *Gibson, R. "A Treatise on Practical Surveying." >{. & H. (b), v. 1, p. 641. *Gilman, C. "The Illinois Conveyancer." Lambert, p. 16. Gilmore, J. R. "Among the Pines." Gilmore, p. 78-79. *Greenleaf, S. "Treatise on the Law of Evidence." Herndon, p. 324. Grimshaw, W. "History of the United States." Beveridge, v. 1, p. 73. *Hale, S. "History of the United States." In John S. Little Collection. *Hallam, H. "View of . . . Europe during the Middle Ages." Lambzrt, p. 17. *Halleck, F. G. "Poetical Works." Putnam's Magazine, v. 5, p. 672. Halleck, H. W. "Military Art and Science." Morrow's "Forever Free," p. 68. Halpine, C. G. "Life and Adventures ... of Private Miles O'Reilly." Broc\- ett, p. 719. 129! ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS Harris, T. W. "A Treatise on Some Insects Injurious to Vegetation." Lin- coln's letter regarding it at Brown University. Helper, H. R. "The Impending Crisis of the South." Robinson, p. 85. Hentz, Caroline Lee. Novels. Herndon, p. 113. *Hickey, W. "Constitution of the United States." Herndon, p. 478. * Hitchcock, E. "Religious Truth Illustrated from Science." Hill, p. 15, illus. Holland, W. M. "Life ... of Martin Van Buren." Robinson, p. 38. Holmes, O. W. "Poems." Dodge, p. 13, 15. Homer. "The Illiad." "The Odyssey." Review of Reviews, Feb. 1920, p. 196. Hood, T. "Poems." Century, Kov., 1890, v. 41, p. 36. *Howells, W. B. 6? Hayes, J. L. "Lives and Speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin." Barker, Letter. Hume, D. "Essays." Lamon, p. 494. *Illinois. "Journal of the House . . . 9th General Assembly." Brown Uni- versity. Illinois. "Revised Laws." 1829. Beveridge, v. 1, p. 141. Illinois. "Revised Laws." 18414845. Hill, p. 15, illus. *Indiana. "Revised Laws." 1824. Herndon, p. 45. In Townsend Collection. *"Kentucky Preceptor." 1812. Lincoln Lore, ]<[o. 80. In Barrett Collection. Kerr, Orpheus C. See Newell, Robert Henry. Kirk, Edmund. See Gilmore, James Roberts. *Kirkham, S. "English Grammar." Tarbell, v. 1, p. 64. *Lanman, C. "Dictionary of the U. S. Congress." 1859. Lambert, p. 16. *Lincoln, A. "Address . . . Cooper Institute." Tracy, p. 149. *Lincoln, A. 6? Douglas, S. A. "Political Debates." Photostat, Brown Univ. *Livermore, G. "Historical research . . . Negroes as Slaves, as Citizens, and as Soldiers." Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc, Apr. 1911, p. 595-6. *Livingston, J. "Law Register." Hill, p. 15, illus. Locke, D. R. "The Nasby Papers." Barton (a), p. 18. Longfellow, H. W. "Poems." Dodge, p. 15. *Lowe, A. T. "The Columbian Class Book." Houser, A[o. 6. Lowell, J. R. "The Biglow Papers." Dodge, p. 15. Marvel, Ik. See Mitchell, Donald G. Mill, J. S. "On Liberty." Broc\ett, p. 719. Miller, J. "Joe Miller's Jest Book." Dodge, p. 16-17. Milton, J. "Poetical Works." Beveridge, v. 2, p. 3. [.30] ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS *Mitchell, D. G. "Fudge Doings." Houser, Ho- 91. Murray, L. "The English Reader. 1 ' Dodge, p. 6. Nasby, Petroleum V. See Locke, David Ross. Newell, R. H. "The Orpheus C. Kerr Papers." Dodge, p. 16. *01msted, D. "An introduction to Astronomy." Beveridge, v. 2, p. 222. O'Reilly, Private Miles. See Halpine, Charles Graham. Paine, T. "Age of Reason." Beveridge, v. 1, p. 139. *Paley, W. "Works." 1836. Lambert, p. 17. Parker, T. "Critical and Miscellaneous Writings." Herndon, p. 363. *Peterson, H. "Poems." In Brown University Collection. Pike, N. "A New . . . System of Arithmetick." Herndon, p. 37. Plutarch. "Lives." (Selections). Barton (a), p. 14. Poe, E. A. "Poetical Works." Barton (d), v. 1, p. 306. *Pope, A. "Poetical Works." In Harvard University Collection. Quinn, J. "Quinn's Jests." Beveridge, v. 1, p. 83. Ramsay, D. "Life of George Washington." Rothschild, p. 326. Riley, J. "Authentic Narrative . . . Loss of the . . . Brig Commerce." Roth' schild, p. 10. Rollin, C. "Ancient History." Beveridge, v. 1, p. 135. Scott, William. "Lessons in Elocution." Beveridge, v. 1, p. 75. Scott, Winfield. "Infantry Tactics." Angle, p. 101. Scripps, J. L. "Life of Lincoln." Dyche, p. 345, J. I. S. H. S., Oct. '24. Shakespeare, W. "Dramatic Works." Robinson, p. 202-205. Simson, R. "The Elements of Euclid." Beveridge, v. 2, p. 221. Smith, J. "The Christian's Defence." Barton (c), p. 156-165. Smith, S. "Letters of J. Downing." Lamon, p. 142. *Story, J. "Commentaries on Equity Jurisprudence." Herndon, p. 324. Stowe, H. B. "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Ran\in, p. 130. *Sumner, C. "The Republican Party." Hill, p. 15, illus. Thayer, W. M. "The Pioneer Boy." In Barrett Collection. Volney, C. F. C. de. "Volney's Ruins." Herndon, p. 439. Voltaire, F. M. A. de. "Works." Herndon, p. 125. *"Wealth and Worth." 1856. In Bollinger Collection. Webster, D. "Speeches." Herndon, p. 478. Webster, N. "The American Spelling Book." Herndon, p. 37. * Webster, N. "An American Dictionary." 1858. Lambert, p. 16. *Webster, N. "A Dictionary for Primary Schools." 1833. Hill, p. I5,illus. f31] ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^>^By.', i ■' 1 THE 1 THEORY AKD PRACTICE OF PURVEYING ; COHTAlHIZfC .AHtfte Instructions requisite for the skilful praetiet of this Art. BY ROBERT GIBSON. ILLUSTRATED BY COPPERPLATES j THE WHOLE CORRECTED, NEWLY ARRANGED, ANJ> GREATLY ENLARGED, WITH lSEFUL SELECTIONS, ;.M ffl *^r^^H I AND A NEW SET OF ACCURATE 1 MATHEMATICAL TABLES. ♦ . j'v"'?>V.-'/' BF D. P. ADAMS, j TEACHER OF TUB MATHEMATICS. ' 1 NEW-YORK : -■■* ■ 4t JBi--'-' ' i* 4 PUBLISHED BY EVERT DUYCKIKCK. ffl NO. 110 rEARL-STRBlT. Gevrgc Lang, printer- * * i ■ 381!. 1 JSESfe ^J f \ * *ifi)*ii"£tm >M '7'.; -':?\M Gibson's Surveying. This book, and another by Flint on the same subject, were mastered in six weeks by young Lincoln while he lived at New Salem. I32J ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS Weems, M. L. "Life of Gen. Francis Marion." Dodge, p. 6. Weems, M. L. "Life of George Washington." K & H. (b), v. 1, p. 688. Wells, D. A. ed. "Annual of Scientific Discovery/ 1 Beveridge, v. 2, p. 222. Whiting, W. "War Powers of the President." Carpenter, p. 353. Whittier, J. G. "Poems." Century, Hov. 1890, v. 41, p. 36. Whitman, W. "Leaves of Grass." Sandburg, v. 2, p. 234. Willis, N. P. "Poems." Carpenter, p. 115. Wirt, W. "Sketches of the Life ... of Patrick Henry." Robinjson, p. 38. * Worcester, J. E. "Ancient and Modern History." Houser, 7<[o. 30. *Young, E. "The Complaint; or, Night Thoughts." Houser, 7<[o. 63. K[ote: No effort has been made to list the professional works belonging to the firm of Lincoln and Herndon, many of which are known to be extant. OTHER AUTHORS The following list includes references to various writers with whom Lincoln was more or less familiar, in some cases probably through single poems or a limited number of selections or speeches. Abbott, Jacob. (Biographical histories). Robinson, p. 38. Balzac, H. de. (Novels.) Herndon, p. 311. Bayly, T. H. (Poems.) Dodge, p. 12. Beecher, H. W. (Sermons.) Carpenter, p. 230. Benton, T. H. (Speeches.) Beveridge, v. 2, p. 4. Browning, R. (Poems.) Dodge, p. 14. Bulwer, E. (Novels.) Dodge, p. 8. Calhoun, J. (Speeches.) Beveridge, v. 2, p. 5. Campbell, T. (Poems.) Dodge, p. 5. Carlyle, T. (Philosophy.) Ran\in, p. 129. Darwin, C. (Science.) Herndon, p. 436. Dupuy's Song Book. Beveridge, v. 1, p. 72. Giddings, J. (Speeches.) Herndon, p. 363. Goldsmith, O. (Poems.) Carpenter, p. 227. Hawthorne, N. (Novels.) Ran\in, p. 130. Henry, Patrick. (Speeches.) Dodge, p. 10. Herrick, Robert. (Poems.) Dodge, p. 12. Jackson, Andrew. (Proc. against nullification.) Herndon, p. 319. 1331 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS JOE MILLER'S JEST-BOOK. 1. A lady was once riding on horseback in Hertfordshire — a county notorious for the boorish incivility of its labourers— when a little boy ran to open a gate for her. Thank ye, my boy, she said, throwing him sixpence ; I am sure you are not of this county. You are a liar, though, for I be, was the cha- racteristic reply. 2. A young spark having more money than good sense, bought a fine- looking horse, asked a knowing friend his opinion of the purchase, and what he thought his best point. His best point, replied the wag, after examination, wtiy his best point is his voice; he is likely to be the best singing horse in England. My horse sing! returned the other, m amaze- ment. I never saw a horse more likely, said his friend ; for he has got a thrush in each foot I 3. An innkeeper came to a small village in the neighbour- hood of Brighton, and commenced business under the sign of the Two Monkeys. The publican already established there walking past the new house one day, and seeing his rival at the door, desired to be introduced to his partner. The other replied indignantly that he was in business on his own ac- count. The more shame for you, then, chuckled the original Boniface, to carry on business under the false pretence of a partnership (pointing to the sign), when there is «nly one of 4. Heidegger, of hard-featured memory, being onc6 in com- pany with a number of persons of various nations, the ques- tion of what nation in Europe was most remarkable for men of genius, happened to be started ; when Heidegger, to the sur- prise of all present? claimed the palm for Switzerland, and instanced himself as a proof of the truth of it. I was born a Swiss, said he, and came to England without a tartlung ; and here I have found means to gain five thousand pounds a-year, and to spend it. Now, if any Englishman, or Page from Joe Miller's Jest Book. The page shown above is from a copy in the writer's collection. This copy was published in 1836 by Charles Mason, Wine Office Court, Fleet Street, London. 1341 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS Knox, Wm. (Poem, "Immortality.") Herndon, p. 319. Leslie, J. M (Poems.) Dodge, p. 12. Mackay, Charles. (Poems.) Herndon, p. 322. Marryat, F. (Novels.) Angle, p. 110. Moore, T. (Poems.) Dodge, p. 15. Phillips, Wendell. (Speeches.) Herndon, p. 363. Plato. (Philosophy.) Dodge, p. 17. Rogers, S. (Poems.) Dodge, p. 15. Seward, W. H. (Speeches.) Herndon, p. 363. Schiller, J. von. (Works.) Presented to Lincoln. Scott, W. (Novels.) Dodge, p. 8, 20. Sloan, S. (Architecture.) Presented to Lincoln. Spencer, Herbert. (Philosophy.) Herndon, p. 436. Thompson, M. M. (Doesticks-pseud.) (Humor.) Demings Eulogy. Watts, I. (Hymns.) Curtis, p. 379. Wesley, C. (Hymns.) Curtis, p. 379. 135] ABRAHAM LINCOLN STUDENT HIS BOOKS 222 THE ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER. and woof of the being are dyed with a new color, woven according to a new pattern. Char- acter is never the same after marriage as before. There is a new impetus given by it to the powers of thought and affection, inducing them to a dif- ferent activity, and deciding what tendencies are heireeforth to take the lead in the action of the mind ; whether the soul is to spread its wings for a higher flight than it has hitherto ventured, or to sit with closed pinions, content to be of the earth, earthy. All are interested, even strangers, in hearing of the establishment of a newly married pair in what relates to the equipage of external life. Far more interesting would it be if we could trace the mental establishing that is going on, as old traits of character are confirmed or cast aside, and new ones developed or implanted. This union, so sacredjMtJJLeyjg^^ that which exists between parent an d child, should be entered upon only from the Jnghestand^u^rest moti ve £L^!?£]? e ! n7^eFwbrfdl)r prosperity come oTgoas it'may, this twaTn whom God h^s joined, Tot pyaTinef e ^^^^^^^f^^^^j^^ by a true spiritual unionJtha£ man cann ot put asuncter,*are Ta Tieaven unto themselv es, an d p eace will ever dweUwithin their Tmoltalion. ^n^roportion'as^ true marriage of the affec- tions between the pure in heart is productive of the highest happiness that can exist on earth, jo every remove from it diminishes the d e fp e %jj£ this liappi and beeoii a fount ait fcrnal. Amid i the world properties In order a higher s an age \vl but unUv 'en ward, : ingbappi Many tion enjt.. pines.< lii in worldli is not of tempests good thii tain then ness I m m.'_; shares tiii things Ik earnestly other, in ments; U trials ol* hope, mv and whit Chandler's Elements of Character. The above page from Mary G. Chandler's "Elements of Character" contains one of the pas- sages that Mr. Lincoln marked before presenting the book to Mrs. Lincoln. This copy is now in the Barrett collection. |36J ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS AUTHORITIES Angle, Paul M. "K[ew Letters and Papers of Lincoln." Boston, 1930. Barton, W. E. (a) "Abraham Lincoln and His Boo\s." Chicago, 1920. (b) "Lincoln at Gettysburg." Indianapolis, 1930. (c) "The Soul of Abraham Lincoln." New York, 1920. (d) "Life of Abraham Lincoln." 2 v. Indianapolis, 1925. Beveridge, A. J. "Abraham Lincoln." 4 v. Boston, 1928. Brockett, L. P. "Life and Times of Abraham Lincoln." Philadelphia, 1865. Carpenter, F. B. "Six Months at the White House." New York, 1866. Curtis, W. E. "The True Abraham Lincoln." Philadelphia, 1903. Dodge, D. K. "Abraham Lincoln; the Evolution of His Literary Style." Cham' paign, 111., 1900 Gilmore, J. R. "Personal Recollections of Lincoln." Boston, 1898. Herndon, W. H., and Weik, J. W. "Herndons Lincoln." 3 v. Chicago, 1889. Hill, F. T. "Lincoln the Lawyer." New York, 1913. Houser, M. L. "The Boo\s That Lincoln Read." Peoria, 1929. Jackson, H. T. "Lincoln's Use of the Bible." New York, 1909. Lambert, W. H. "Library of . . . sold . . . 1914." New York, 1914. Part I. Lamon, W. H. "Life of Abraham Lincoln." Boston, 1872. Lincoln Lore. Published weekly by Lincoln National Life Insurance Co., Fort Wayne, Ind. Nicolay 6? Hay. (a) "Abraham Lincoln; a History "10 v., New York, 1890. (b) "Abraham Lincoln; Complete Wor\s." 2 v., New York, 1890. Oldroyd, O. H. "Lincoln Memorial: Album Immortelles" Springfield, 111. 1890. Rankin, H. B. "Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln." New York, 1916. Robinson, L. E. "Abraham Lincoln as a Man of Letters." New York, 1918. Rothschild, A. "Honest Abe." Boston, 1917- Sandburg, C. "The Prairie Tears." 2 v. New York, 1926. Tarbell, I. M. "Life of Abraham Lincoln." 2 v. New York, 1900. Tracy, G. A. "Uncollected Letters of Abraham Lincoln." Boston, 1917. Whitney, H. C. "Life on the Circuit with Lincoln" Boston, 1892. 1371 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKfS 138] ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS Notes Both William E. Barton and Carl Sandburg have written at length about NeilsotVs "Exercises on the Syntax of the Greek Language" as a book that Lin' coin read. The evidence that he read this book consists of a copy which ap- parently contains his autograph, and notes written by his own hand. This copy has been one of the items in the splendid collection owned by Hon. James W. Bollinger of Davenport, Iowa. Because some doubts have been expressed regarding the genuineness of the Lincoln signature in this book, Judge Bollinger insists that its title be omitted from our list until such doubts have been dis- sipated. In deference to the sensitiveness of a good friend, his wishes have been followed. Several writers have stated that Lincoln read Clause wits on "War." Other students, because unable to find an earlier translation of this work than that of 1873, have doubted the statement. Now comes an unusually keen and dis- criminating Lincoln student, Harry J. Lytle, also of Davenport, with the sug- gestion that because Lincoln studied German when a young man at Spring- field, as related by Shelby M. Cullom in his "Fifty Years of Public Service"; and because Lincoln and Carl Schurz, a disciple of Clausewitz, were warm personal friends, it is not improbable that Lincoln read the Clausewitz; book in the original. That possibility is also suggested by the fact that while Mr. Lin- coln was at Washington there were withdrawn from the Library of Congress in his name a number of works printed in the German language. Harry E. Barker, who probably knows considerably more about Lincoln Association Books than anyone else, accepts Beveridge's statement that young Lincoln used Bailey's "Etymological Dictionary" while living in Indiana; but Dr. Louis A. Warren is skeptical, and doubts if Lincoln ever saw the copy of that book which his cousins owned while living in Hancock County, Illinois. Joseph Medill, who was in a position to know, once wrote that John Locke Scripps was somewhat dissatisfied with his campaign "Life of Abraham Lincoln" because "Lincoln insisted on pruning out of it many of its most interesting and readable passages" while reading the manuscript. Some very eminent author- ities, however, doubt i{ Lincoln ever saw the manuscript of that work before its publication. All of which indicates how fertile a field this subject provides for friendly argumentation. 1 39J ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS POLITICAL DEBATES HON. ABRAHAM LINCOLN HON. STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, In the Celebrated Campaign of 1359, in Illinois ; INCLUDING THE PRECEDING SPEECHES OF EACH, AT CHI- CAGO, SPRINGFIELD, ETC.; ALSO, THE TWO GREAT SPEECHES. OF MR. LINCOLN IN OHIO, IN 18o9, CAREFULLY PREPARED BY THE REPORTERS OF EACH PARTY, AND PUBLISHED / AT THE TIMES OF THEIR DELIVERY. . COLUMBUS; FOLLETT, FOSTER AND COMPANY. BOiSTO.V: BRtWX * TAOOAKD. NEW YORK: W. A. TOWN.SKKD ft CO. CHICAGO : ». 0. 0X1001 * CO. DETROIT ! PDTMAX, SMITH ft OO. 1860. B ip< ,., « '" .' ~fr: Lincoln and Douglas Debates. This book begins with Lincoln's houscdividea speech, and concludes with his address at Cincinnati in September, 1859. The copy for it was furnished to the publishers by Lincoln himself. At the time this particular edition was printed, 25,000 copies had already been sold. { 40 J ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS Library of Congress Books The following books were withdrawn from the Library of Congress, Wash' ington, D. C, by Mr. Lincoln and his household while he was President. We are indebted to Hon. Henry Horner of Chicago for photostatic copies of the library records, and to Miss Kathryn L. Ellis of the Peoria Public Library for expanding the library notes into complete titles. Records showing the books withdrawn by Mr. Lincoln while he was a Member of Congress are not now. available. 1861 Apr. 19, "Daily Placer Times and Transcript." Part 2, 1855. San Francisco, California. Aug. 5, "Oeuvres." Vol. 9 (Le Roi S' Amuse). By Victor Marie Hugo. Oct. 3, "Oeuvres." Vol. 13. By Victor Marie Hugo. Nov. 18, "Oeuvres." Vol. 11. By Victor Marie Hugo. Nov. 18, "The Mormons, or Latter Day Saints in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake." By Capt. John W. Gunnison. Nov. 18, "Mormonism; its Leaders and Designs; Portraits and Views." By John Hyde. Nov. 18, "Book of Mormon." Trans, by Joseph Smith. Nov. 22, "United States Constitution." 1783. 8 vols. Nov. 22, "United States Constitution." 1856. 8 vols. Nov. 22, "Mormonism in All Ages." By J. B. Turner. Nov. 22, "The Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake." By Capt. John W. Gunnison. Nov. 22, "Works." Vols. 4, 7, 8, 9. By Thomas Jefferson. Dec. 6, "Volksmaehrchen der Deutschen." By Johann Karl August Musaeus. Dec. 13, "Display of Heraldry." By William Newton. Dec. 30, "United States Constitution." 1783. Dec. 30, "United States Constitution." 1856. No. 1. 1862 Jan. 8, "Elements of Military Art and Science." By Henry Wager Halleck. Feb. 7, "Representative Men." By Ralph Waldo Emerson. Feb. 13, "Saemmtliche Werke." Vols. 17 and 18 (1 vol.) Vols. 14 and 15 (1 vol.) By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Apr. 7, "Plutarch's Lives." 5 vols. Edited by Arthur Hugh Clough. Apr. 28, "Works." (Hudibras, etc.) 2 vols. By Samuel Butler. 1411 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS May 21, "The Sparrowgrass Papers." By Frederic Swartout Cogens. June 16, "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin. " By Harriet Beecher Stowe. July 23, "History of Minnesota."" By Edward Duffield Neill. July 23, "Song of Hiawatha." By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. July 23, "Dramatic Works." 1 vol. By William Shakespeare. Oct. 4, "Frank Forrester's Field Sports of the United States and British Pro- vinces of North America." 2 vols. 1 vol. "Fishing." By H. W. Herbert. Dec. 8, "Lyrics by the Letter H." Dec. 22, "Poetical Works." 8 vols. By Sir Walter Scott. Dec. 24, "The Wagoner of the Alleghanies; a Poem of the Days of Seventy-Six/ * By Thomas Buchanan Read. 1863 Jan. 5, "Atlantic Monthly." Jan.-June., 1861. Jan. 12, "Why Paul Ferroll Killed His Wife." By Mrs. Caroline Clive. Jan. 16, "History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolu' tion in 1688." By David Hume. Jan. 26, "Curiosities of Natural History." By Francis Trevelyan Buckland. Feb. 3, "Horacan Opera." *Ges. Ed. Feb. 10, "Story of Nell Gwynn." By Peter Cunningham. Feb. 20, "Werke." Vols. 14 to 17 inclusive. By Jean Paul Friedrich Richter. Mar. 14, "History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolu' tion in 1688." Vols. 3 and 4. By David Hume. Apr. 18, "Essays." 1st series. By Ralph Waldo Emerson. Apr. 18, "History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolu' tion in 1688." Vol. 7. By David Hume. May 9, "Elementary Drawing Book." By J. G. Chapman. May 9, "Elements of Drawing; in Three Letters to Beginners." By J. Ruskin. May 16, "Introduction to Perspective, Practical Geometry, Drawing, and Painting." By Charles Hayter. May 16, "Nomenclature of Colors Applicable to the Arts and Natural Sciences." By David Ramsay Hay. May 16, "Elements of Drawing." By J. Clark. May 16, "Practice of Drawing and Painting Landscapes." By Fra. Nicholson. May 19, "Lessons on Art." By James Duffield Harding. May 27, "The Song of Hiawatha." By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1421 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS June 9, "Thirty Outline Compositions from Judd's 'Margaret'. " By F. O. C. Darley. July 2, "Diary of a Journey from the Mississippi to the Coasts of the Pacific with a United States Government Expedition." 2 vols. By Baldwin Mollhausen. July 2, "History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolu' tion in 1688." Vol. 8. By David Hume. July 2, "Oregon and California in 1848." By J. Quinn Thornton. July 2, "The Oregon Trail." By Francis Parkman. July 2, "Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842, and to Oregon and North California in the Years 1843' 44." By Gen. John Charles Fremont. July 14, "Duchess of Orleans." Nov. 7, "Oeuvres." Vols. 3 and 4. By Victor Marie Hugo. Nov. 11, "Narrative of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition, Comprising a Descrip- tion of a Tour Through Texas." 2 vols. By George Wilkins Kendall. Nov. 11, "Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora, and Chihuahua . . . During the Years 1850, 51, 52, and 53." 2 vols. By John Russell Bartlett. Nov. 11, "El Gringo; or, New Mexico and Her People." By William Watts Hart Davis. Nov. 11, "Journal D'un Missionaire au Texas et au Mexique, 1846-52." By Emmanuel Henri Dieudonne Domenech. Nov. 11, "Reconnaissance in New Mexico and California." By Lt. Col. W. H. Emory. (Notes of a Military Reconnaissance from Fort Leaven- worth, in Missouri, to San Diego, in California, Including Part of the Arkansas, Del Norte, and Gila Rivers, Made in 1846-47 with the Advanced Guard of the "Army of the West.") Nov. 20, *Burk on the Rifle. Nov. 20, "The Shot-Gun and Sporting Rifle." By John Henry Walsh. (Stone- henge-pseud.) Nov. 20, "Los Gringos." By Lieut. Wise. Dec. 14, "History of England from the Accession of James II." Vol. 1, Am. Edition. By Thomas Babington Macaulay. Dec. 17, "History of England from the Accession of James II." Vol. 2, Am. Edition. Vols. 2 and 3, Eng. Edition. By Thomas Babington Macaulay. 1431 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS THE 1 3 si 8?" CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE, CONTAINING A FAIR STATEMENT, AND IMPARTIAL EXAMINATION dWT»u IONS CBGED BY LEADING OBJECTIONS CBGED BY INFIDELS AGAINST THE ANTIQUITY, GENUINENESS, CREDIBILITY AND INSPIRATION «M lolaf i pac- ing ta not or at .Ma* ettk* HOLY SCRIPTURES; ENRICHED WITH COPIOUS EXTRACTS FROM LEARNED AUTHORS. BY JAMES 8MITH. "The Christian Faith. Unlike ths tim'roue creed* of paean prmta. la frank, itanda forth to riaw. ioTiiint all To prove, examine, aeareh. inveetigate : And gate beneira light to.aee her b*. n -P«flae*'« Gnrtt af Tim*. B. i» 'If I have done well, and aa if fitting the atorr. it ia that which I deaired: but if etaoderiy meanlr, it to that which I eoald attain «nto."-2 Macaictt it. 38. «go«. . JH >-■ eaodl- ,,,;mM Hardef 9 Wbere-/ 1'J» TWO VOLUMES IN ORE. VOL. I. CINCINNATI: STEREOTYPED AND PUBLISHED BY J. A JAMES. 4 848. ■ , -* < ^I^M 1 "• >1 Smith's Christian's Defense. In his "Soul of Abraham Lincoln," Dr. William E. Barton says: "We can well believe that he [Lincoln] spoke with the utmost sincerity when he told Dr. Smith that he counted the argument unanswerable, and stated to his brother'in4aw, Hon. Ninian W. Edwards, and his associate at the bar, Mr. Thomas Lewis, that these lectures had modified his opinion." 1441 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS 1864 Jan. 18, "Hypatia; or, New Foes with an Old Face." By Charles Kingsley. Jan. 18, "Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club." By Charles Dickens. Feb. 19, "Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet: an Autobiography." By Charles Kingsley. Feb. 27, "History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent." Vol. 2. By George Bancroft. Mar. 14, "Poems." *Douland. Apr. 18, "Illustrated Life of Abraham Lincoln; with His Messages, Proclaim' tions, Letters, etc., and History of His Administration." By Joseph H. Barrett. Apr. 18, "Life of Abraham Lincoln." By William Dean Howells. May 4, "Les Convents." *By Luvine. May 5, "Inquisition." 2 vols. *By Arnould. May 5, "History of the Inquisition." By Philip van Limborch. May 15, "Cavaliers of England." By H. W. Herbert. May 20, "Passion-Flowers." By Mrs. Julia Ward Howe. June 1, "Poems." Vol. 1. By Alfred Tennyson. June 20, "Household Words for Boys and Girls." Vol. 18. Edited by Fanny Dale. "United States Constitution." 1783. "United States Constitution." 1856. Aug. 3, "Household Words for Boys and Girls." Vol. 18. Edited by Fanny Dale. Aug. 6, "Thirty Outline Compositions from Judd's 'Margaret'." By F. O. C. Darley. Aug. 6, "National Hymns, How they are Written and How they are Not Written, a Lyric and National Study for the Times." By Richard Grant White. Aug. 26, "History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent." Vol. 3. By George Bancroft. Sept. 9, "Mysteries de L'Inquisition." By M. V. de Fereal. Sept. 17, "Yeast: a Problem." By Charles Kingsley. Sept. 17, "Sword and Gown." By George Alfred Lawrence. Sept. 19, "History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent." Vol. 4. By George Bancroft. Sept. 29, "Enoch Arden." By Alfred Tennyson. Oct. 9, "Classical Dictionary." By John Lempriere. 145! ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS Oct. 9, *"Faubland." *By Chevalier. Oct. 24, "Memoires, Ecrits Par Lui-meme." Vols. 1-3. By Giovanni Giacomo Casanova de Seingalt. Oct. 30, Homer's "Illiad." 2 vols. Trans, by George Chapman. Oct. 30, "The Georgicks of Hesiod." Trans, by George Chapman. Oct. 30, "The Works of Hesiod, Callimachus, and Theognis." Trans, by Rev. J. Banks. Oct. 30, "British Poets." Vol. 88. Nov. 29, "Caxtoniana." By Edward George Earle Lytton-Bulwer. Nov. 29, "The Blithedale Romance." By Nathaniel Hawthorne. Dec. 7, "History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent." Vol. 4. By George Bancroft. Dec. 7, "Mosses from an Old Manse." By Nathaniel Hawthorne. Dec. 12, "The Snow Image; and Other Twice-Told Tales." By Nathaniel Hawthorne. Dec. 12, "History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent." Vols. 6 and 7- Am. Rev. Edition. By George Bancroft. Dec. 14, *Mem. Francaise. Vol. 64. Dec. 16, "Salem Witchcraft; with an Account of Salem Village." By Rev. Charles Went worth Upham. Dec. 21, "Life of Goethe." By George Henry Lewes. 1865 Jan. 5, "Vivian Grey." 4 vols. By Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Jan. 7, "Oeuvres." Vols. 10 and 20. By Honore de Balzac. Jan. 7, "Margaret, a Tale of the Real and the Ideal, Blight and Bloom." 2 vols. By Rev. Sylvester Judd. Jan. 11, "Contarini Fleming." Vols. 1 and 2. By Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Jan. 23, "Hypatia; or, New Foes With an Old Face." By Charles Kingsley. Jan. 27, "Westward Ho ! or, The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh." By Charles Kingsley. Jan. 30, "Pride and Prejudice." By Jane Austen. Jan. 30, "Werke." Vol. 10. By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Feb. 9, "Werke." Vol. 8. By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Feb. 18, "Werke". Vol. 2. By Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller. Feb. 18, "Werke." Vol. 2. By Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von Schlegel. 1461 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, STUDENT. HIS BOOKS Feb. 22, "Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases." By Peter Mark Roget. Mar. 1, "Precis de L\Art de La Guerre." 2 vols. By Antoine Henri Jomini. Mar. 1, "Traite des Grandes Operations Militaires." 2 vols. By Antoine Henri Jomini. Mar. 1, "Hypatia; or, New Foes With an Old Face." By Charles Kingsley. Mar. 9, "Shirley." By Charlotte Bronte. Mar. 13, "Seven Stories, with Basement and Attic." By Donald Grant Mitchell. Mar. 17, "History of France." 2 vols. By Emile de Bonnechose. Mar. 22, "Life of Abraham Lincoln." By William Dean Howells. Mar. 25, "Tableau de Paris." 2 vols. *By Fexeter. * Where the library notes are too obscure to indicate a title or name with certainty, they are copied literally. 471 \ \ N f