Items related to The life and writings of Abraham Lincoln;
Hardcover. No DJ. Pages clean and unmarked. Covers show minor shelf wear. Binding tight, hinges strong. Previous owner's name on end paper.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
He was the most eloquent of American presidents, with the possible exception of FDR, and the moral vision that sustained the nation during the Civil War illuminates nearly every page in this hefty collection of Abraham Lincoln's speeches, writings, and correspondence. It's not just the famous phrases--"mystic chords of memory" (first inaugural address), "government of the people, by the people, for the people" (Gettysburg Address), "with malice toward none" (second inaugural address)--that resonate. It's an artistic and political genius that could express complex ethical questions in simple, compelling language, as when Lincoln defined slavery's defenders as holding the "same tyrannical principle" as Europe's kings: "the same spirit that says, 'You toil and work and earn bread, and I'll eat it.'" Editor Philip Van Doren Stern's annotations provide helpful background, and his 200-page biographical essay ably encapsulates the principal developments in Lincoln's life and thought as they were known in 1940, when this volume was first published. The extreme privation of his youth, the terrible melancholy that often afflicted him, and the sorrows of his personal life make Lincoln's public achievements all the more staggering. Stern wisely respects the mysterious alchemy by which a plain man became a statesman; this respectful anthology seeks only to present Lincoln, not to explain him. --Wendy Smith
From the Inside Flap:
Abraham Lincoln, the greatest of all American presidents, left us a vast legacy of writings, some of which are among the most famous in our history. Lincoln was a marvelous writer--from his humblest letter to his greatest speeches. His sentences were so memorably crafted that many resonate across the years. "Fourscore and seven years ago," begins the Gettysburg address, "our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
In 1940, the prolific author and historian Philip Van Doren Stern produced this volume as a guide to Lincoln's life through his writings. Stern's "The Life of Abraham Lincoln," which precedes the writings, is a full biography of the man and includes a detailed chronology.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherRandom House
- Publication date1940
- ISBN 10 1122676115
- ISBN 13 9781122676113
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages863
- Rating
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