An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln [Hardcover]

Mark E. Steiner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 2006

Steiner describes Lincoln's legal education, the economics of the law office, and the changes in the practice of law that Lincoln himself experienced as the nation became an industrial, capitalist society. Abraham Lincoln embraced a professional ideal which cast the lawyer as a guardian of order and, adopting a service mentality, represented clients to the best of his ability regardless of his own beliefs about the justice or morality of their claims.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mark E. Steiner is Associate Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law. He received both his J.D. and his Ph.D. in History from the University of Houston.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 282 pages
• Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press; 1 edition (August 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087580358X
• ISBN-13: 978-0875803586
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,350,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lincoln's "day job", August 5, 2007

By 

Richard Lawrence Miller, Lincoln author (Kansas City MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln (Hardcover)

In An Honest Calling attorney Mark E. Steiner makes good use of his professional training and years spent in helping to compile Lincoln's legal papers.

Study of Lincoln's law career has long been hampered by the scattered nature of Lincoln's court documents throughout Illinois and the Midwest. Now they are gathered together, and Steiner has made a fine presentation of what they reveal about Lincoln's "day job," which may have consumed as much of his time as politics did. Steiner deals with Lincoln's law practice in general and with some individual cases revealing Lincoln's handling of particular issues (including slavery and railroad corporations). Civil and criminal practices are covered.

This is an excellent introduction to Lincoln's law practice, and will also interest persons seeking information about the influence of attorneys on the Western frontier.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Meticulous Mining for Gold Nuggets, January 1, 2010

By 

Miz Ellen "all the letters of my real name" (Bovine Universe) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: AN HONEST CALLING: THE LAW PRACTICE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN (Paperback)

Were I completely objective about this book, I'd probably grant it only 3 stars. It is a rather dry read, but because I bought it in a bookstore just around the corner from Lincoln's law office in Springfield, IL it represents a souvenir of a great day learning about the life of our 16th President and I love it.

Its greatest virtue is also its greatest vice. The author has made a phenomenal survey of the digital repository of Lincoln legal documents published in 2000 by the University of Illinois. His notes, bibliography and case index comprise about a third of the book's bulk. I've no doubt that these alone make this book a useful tool to the Lincoln scholar.

The seven chapters of text that precede the index are probably 100 percent interesting to people in the legal profession. The first three chapters are a bit plodding. They talk about 1) Lincoln's popularity vs the current standing of the legal profession, 2) the typical education of a lawyer in Lincoln's time with observations on how Lincoln was different and 3) political and economic considerations in the practice of law prior to the Civil War. The author tends to get bogged down in his minutiae, citations and quotes to the point where he fails to interpret his data.

This book is limited to descriptive history. The author does not have a case to make or a question to pose. This lack of historical argument can make for dry reading, however a patient reader can find nuggets of gold that the author has dug up. I particularly refer to the fourth chapter: Law on the Prairie. Here is a fascinating compilation of the cases that lawyer Lincoln was involved with and they paint a remarkable picture of the society that he was a part of: cases for assault, slander and libel, property disputes, trespass, seduction, theft...it's mind boggling and somehow brings us closer to Lincoln and his time, particularly in the dollar amounts of the damages. Here the author's attention to detail works in favor of the material. This is information drawn directly from primary sources and assembled in a fresh way.

Likewise, the fifth chapter treats in detail what seems to be an anomaly: in 1847 Lincoln was a secondary lawyer acting on behalf of a Kentucky slaveholder who was seeking to retain a black woman and her three children as his slaves even though he had transported them to the free state Illinois and left them there for two years. Here, because the author is so focused on gathering his evidence, I feel his treatment of this issue and conclusion is objective and exhaustive.

Chapter six is again a meticulous review of Lincoln's case work both for and against the railroads. This is an important chapter, since Lincoln made most of his money from railroad work and was able to add a second story to his house from this aspect of his practice.

I'd recommend this book to serious Lincoln buffs and also to historians interested in law in the pre-Civil War period. The author's meticulous attention to detail has created a gold mine of perspectives that will enrich further studies of Lincoln and his time.