Lincoln's Own Stories [Paperback]

Anthony Gross (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2007

Anthony Gross collected stories and anecdotes told about and by President Lincoln, offering a fascinating, sometimes humorous, occasionally insightful, look at one of America's most important historical figures.

Editorial Reviews

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Introduction

For many years the editor has collected and studied the literature relating to Abraham Lincoln, and his interest has led to the preparation of a book which he has endeavored to make both authentic and significant. His purpose has been to select stories which embody truth and point, and to arrange them, as far as possible, consecutively, so that they may furnish continuous illustrations of the various stages of Lincoln's wonderful career. Various dubious and often maudlin tales which have been attributed to Lincoln have been omitted. While it would be impossible to claim that any collection is absolutely comprehensive, yet it is believed that the best and the essential Lincoln stories are assembled here in a manner which will serve as an outline biography in story form.

In connection with this plan the bare facts of Lincoln's life may be restated helpfully. His parents, born in Virginia, followed the westward movement across the Alleghenies to Kentucky, where Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin County on February 12, 1809. Afterward the family continued westward to Indiana. His education, acquired almost entirely by himself, included hardly more than a year at a regular school. His was the working boyhood of the frontier. At nineteen he helped to take a flatboat down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and the fidelity of his service caused his employer to make him a clerk and to give him charge of a store at New Salem, Illinois. In 1832 the force of Lincoln's personality led to his election as captain of a company raised for the Black Hawk War. Next came his appointment as postmaster at New Salem, his study of law, and his admission, in 1836, to the practice of law, which he began at Springfield, Illinois. Law almost inevitably involved politics, and Lincoln's growing success as a lawyer was accompanied by recognition as a locally conspicuous figure in the Whig party. There followed, naturally, various elections to the Legislature, and finally, in 1847, his election to Congress, where he emphasized his antagonism to slavery. His selection as a candidate for the Senate of the United States, in 1858, led to the historic debates with Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln obtained the popular vote, but the Legislature elected Douglas. Yet the real outcome was a national prominence which brought him the Republican nomination for the Presidency over William H. Seward, in 1860, and his election. So far as possible Lincoln's great career as President has been divided into three parts which afford stories of the civil side of his administration, stories of his visits to the front, and stories relating peculiarly to the events of the war. Obviously the line cannot be drawn sharply; but the general plan will, it is believed, be found convenient as affording illuminating suggestions regarding the various phases of the momentous period from Lincoln's first election to his death, April 15, 1865.

Abraham Lincoln was a man of steel nerves, clear mental grasp, stanch convictions, and adamantine will, though withal a man of the gentlest and kindliest character; and his forbearance and patience were almost infinite. He was the genius of common sense. His steps forward were always well timed, and some one said that he was never oppressed with that curse of genius, the self-consciousness of petty things. He had the faculty of picking out the essentials of a question and allowing the non-essentials to take care of themselves.

His stories illustrate these characteristics to a marked degree. They were told for a purpose. He was not a professional story-teller. That is, he did not tell stories for the sake of exploiting his humor. He told them as they were called into being by events; sometimes to illumine an argument or to controvert one; very often to conceal his purposes or to throw some persistent inquirer off the trail; at times to let down an ardent office-seeker gently. But he was a man of infinite jest in the most human sense, and if this modest compilation serves to accentuate his kindliness and patience, his tactfulness and sagacity, his great patriotism and wisdom, his unselfish devotion to the highest ideals, it will help to a closer understanding of one of the great characters of the world's unfolding drama.

My thanks are due to the many lovers and biographers of Lincoln, to authors of standard books, and to various chroniclers, from whom these stories have been gathered.

Product Details

• Paperback: 148 pages
• Publisher: Coachwhip Publications (October 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193058542X
• ISBN-13: 978-1930585423
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,612,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Military > United States Civil War
  • #46 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Political Science > Leaders & Leadership
  • #58 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Presidents & Heads of State

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Presidential Folklore, November 8, 2007

By 

Chad Arment (PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lincoln's Own Stories (Paperback)

The Coachwhip Publications edition (ISBN 193058542X - just copy and paste that number into the Amazon search bar - the edition might not show up otherwise, in search results) is an inexpensive reprint of this charming collecting of folkstories told about and by President Abraham Lincoln. This could make a good first introduction for younger children to American history, giving a little insight into the personality and public persona of one of our most famous presidents. There is some minor bowdlerization in this edition.