Customer Reviews

The Lincoln Family Album

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Mark Neely has compiled a fascinating collection of the Lincoln family's pictures from their family album. What's interesting is what is NOT included in the album: not many photographs of Abraham Lincoln, perhaps the most photographed president of the 19th century. But the pictures of his children and grandchildren are especially interesting and poignant, especially those of a grandson named Abraham (Robert's son) who died at 16 but who bore an uncanny likeness to his famous grandfather. An important addition to any serious Lincoln student's library.

Being a Lincoln fan, I pride myself on keeping up on the latest books that come out, and usually, one way or another, end up purchasing them. So, imagine my surprise when I visited a local bookstore, and was browsing in its impressive Lincoln section to find this jew, "The Lincoln Family Album". What, a book that I hadn't heard of?

At first, I thought it was just a simple recounting of the many familiar books with Lincoln photos in it. But upon glancing inside, I realized how wrong assumptions are. The pictures in this book are from the actual Lincoln photograph album, kept through the family generation after generation, until the last surviving member of the clan died in 1985. Up until then, the book lived in secrecy, but now, in this stunning paperback, the photographs have been reproduced. Each page contains a picture, and a small vignette that describes the person in the picture, and why it would be found in the Lincoln family album.

I found myself engrossed, not only in the pictures, but the information contained in each page. For some reason, the pictures came more alive to me with this information than any other picture book of Lincoln. Especially touching are the pictures of Lincoln's kids, Tad, Willie, and Robert. As proud parents would, they are well-documented in this book.

If you are a devotee of Lincoln, I highly recommend this book. With an engrossing first chapter that talks about how photography was catching on just as Lincoln became President, and a wealth of knowledge of the Lincoln family, this book is sure to please you!!