Lincoln the Inventor [Paperback]

Jason Emerson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2009

In Lincoln the Inventor, Jason Emerson offers the first treatment of Abraham Lincoln’s invention of a device to buoy vessels over shoals and its subsequent patent as more than mere historical footnote.

In this book, Emerson shows how, when, where, and why Lincoln created his invention; how his penchant for inventions and inventiveness was part of his larger political belief in internal improvements and free labor principles; how his interest in the topic led him to try his hand at scholarly lecturing; and how Lincoln, as president, encouraged and even contributed to the creation of new weapons for the Union during the Civil War.

            During his extensive research, Emerson also uncovered previously unknown correspondence between Lincoln’s son, Robert, and his presidential secretary, John Nicolay, which revealed the existence of a previously unknown draft of Abraham Lincoln’s lecture “Discoveries and Inventions.” Emerson not only examines the creation, delivery, and legacy of this lecture, but also reveals for the first time how Robert Lincoln owned this unknown version, how he lost and later tried to find it, the indifference with which Robert and Nicolay both held the lecture, and their decision to give it as little attention as possible when publishing President Lincoln’s collected works.

           The story of Lincoln’s invention extends beyond a boat journey, the whittling of some wood, and a trip to the Patent Office; the invention had ramifications for Lincoln’s life from the day his flatboat got stuck in 1831 until the day he died in 1865. Besides giving a complete examination of this important—and little known—aspect of Lincoln’s life, Lincoln the Inventor delves into the ramifications of Lincoln’s intellectual curiosity and inventiveness, both as a civilian and as president, and considers how it allows a fresh insight into his overall character and contributed in no small way to his greatness. Lincoln the Inventor is a fresh contribution to the field of Lincoln studies about a topic long neglected.  By understanding Lincoln the inventor, we better understand Lincoln the man.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“You will come away from Lincoln the Inventor the wiser for understanding how the mind that devised a patent for floating grounded river boats could also be the same mind that turned out the perfectly-balanced phrases of the Gettysburg Address, labored to promote transportation as the keystone to economic mobility, and piloted emancipation through the shoals of war.”—Allen C. Guelzo, author of Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America

 

“Lincoln the Inventor is an excellent book presenting new information about Abraham Lincoln, providing still another example of his intellectual genius. This well-organized and thoroughly researched work adds to Jason Emerson’s growing reputation as a young Lincoln scholar of note.”—Richard W. Etulain, author of Beyond the Missouri: The Story of the American West

About the Author

Jason Emerson, the author of The Madness of Mary Lincoln, is an independent historian and freelance writer whose articles have appeared in American Heritage, American History, and Civil War Times magazines, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Lincoln Herald, and Lincoln Forum Bulletin. He is writing a biography of Robert T. Lincoln, to be published by Southern Illinois University Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press; 1st Edition edition (January 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809328976
• ISBN-13: 978-0809328970
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,033,461 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lincoln's inventive mind, February 12, 2009

By 

John A. Riolo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lincoln the Inventor (Paperback)

Lincoln the inventor gives a rare look into the mind of one of out greatest presidents.

Not only was Abraham Lincoln the only US President that holds a patent from the US patient office he has a scientific mind that pervaded much how he handled his presidency the conduct of the war and his legacy too us all..

It's a relatively short book that any student of Lincoln or history would find captivating.

Emerson continues to give new insights into the Lincolns.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "I Have Invented a New and Improved...", March 18, 2009

By 

James Schmidt (The Woodlands, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lincoln the Inventor (Paperback)

"Be it known that I have invented a new and improved manner of combining adjustable buoyant air chambers with a steamboat or other vessel for the purpose of enabling their draught of water to be readily lessened to enable them to pass over bars, or through shallow water, without discharging their cargoes."

So begins the text of United States Patent #6,469 awarded to Abraham Lincoln for a method of "Buoying Vessels Over Shoals."

Lincoln's invention, his penchant for things scientific and mechanical, and his lecture "Discoveries and Inventions" is the subject of a terrific new book - Lincoln, the Inventor - by Jason Emerson, author of The Madness of Mary Lincoln.

I purchased the book yesterday, stayed up last night to read it, and was not disappointed. Here are some hi-lights for me:

1) The book is short (about 50 pages of text with another 25 pages of Appendices). Jason Emerson makes no apologies for the shortness. In fact, he is disappointed that "the publication of short books and monographs has lessened extensively in recent years," adding, " The page count of a work should have no impact on its overall historical, literary, or pedagogical value." (p. xiii) Indeed! Mr. Emerson packs a lot of information into this short book and it is supported by a great amount of scholarship.

2) In the first part of the book, Mr. Emerson describes Lincoln's general interest in science and invention and how that played out in his personal life (he devoured books on astronomy, geometry, and mechanics), his legislative agenda (he supported infrastructure projects), and as an inventor himself (somewhat to the chagrin of his peers). I was familiar with some of the information and anecdotes from my own reading and research on Lincoln, but Mr. Emerson goes much farther. Of particular interest is his description of some of lawyer-Lincoln's patent cases.

3) In the second part of the book, Mr. Emerson concentrates on Lincoln's lecture, "Discoveries and Inventions." Of particular interest here are newspaper and first-person accounts of the reception of the lecture, and - more important - excerpts from newly discovered correspondence revealing a lost handwritten and bound copy of the lecture. It would wonderful if this became the next big find of Lincolnia.

The book includes appendices of the patent as well as the text of the lecture (such as we know it).

Mr. Emerson drew on an impressive array of archives, period newspapers, and secondary sources in telling a focused by terrific story. ***Highly recommended***

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Statesman with a "Mechanical Mind", April 17, 2010

By 

Burrus M. Carnahan (Vienna, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lincoln the Inventor (Paperback)

On May 22, 1849, the U.S. government awarded patent number 6469 to Abraham Lincoln, for "a new and improved manner of combining adjustable buoyant air chambers with a steamboat or other vessel," to lift the boat over shoals or other shallow water. In this short book Jason Emerson recounts the history behind Lincoln's invention, from his youthful experiences as a flatboat crewman through his testing a model of the device in a Springfield, Illinois, horse trough. After telling the story of the patent, Emerson uses it as a starting point for examining Lincoln's "mechanical mind," his fascination with tools, machinery and other mechanisms that controlled physical forces for useful purposes. Emerson also reexamines Lincoln's speech on "Discoveries and Inventions" and places it in context with his interest in physics and mechanics.