Author: LINCOLN, Abraham
Title: The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln
Description: New York, The Modern Library, 1942. Hardcover. Edited by Philip Van Doren Stern. Introduction by Allan Nevins. 8vo. Blue cloth with gilt spine lettering. xxvi, 863pp. Near fine. Faintest of faint edgewear. A tight and attractive first edition of this Modern Library Giant (#20), with "First Modern Library Giant Edition 1942" clearly noted. This sharp copy also bears a fine autograph edition: Tipped among the preliminary leaves is an outstanding content Typed Letter Signed from Nevins, 1p, 5¼" X 8", New York, NY, 1956 October 21. Addressed to "Ralph" (Ralph G. Newman, 1912-2000, founder of Chicago's famed Abraham Lincoln Book Shop). Writing on "Columbia University" letterhead, Nevins first discusses Bruce Catton's book "This Hallowed Ground: The Story of the Union Side of the Civil War." He writes: "Here we are. Bruce has written a fine book. It will delight everybody. It reads at times as if he had written in haste, but I did not mention that. Some of the omissions are rather startling. But as a whole it is a superb performance." He then discusses Newman and Otto Eisenschiml's 1947 book "The American Iliad: The Epic Story of the Civil War as Narrated by Eyewitnesses and Contemporaries," an anthology that had just been rereleased by Grosset & Dunlap with a "Pictorial Chronicle" volume added by E.B. "Pete" Long. He writes, "My congratulations on those two volumes of yours and Pete Long's. They are magnificent. You will have a very large sale. I agree that in time the second volume should be enlarged. It is fine as it stands, but expansion would make it still finer. The whole set is a real public service.." Signed simply "Allan" in blue ballpoint. .

Keywords: Abraham Lincoln


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