Prospectus of
The Complete Works of
Abraham Lincoln
Comprising his Speeches, Letters,
State Papers and Miscellaneous Writings
John G. Nicolay and John Hay
Published by Left of Brain Books
Copyright 2021 Left of Brain Books
ISBN 978-1-396-32155-9
eBook Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Left of Brain Books is a division of Left of Brain Onboarding Pty Ltd.
Table of Contents
A Word from President Roosevelt
I feel that not merely all lovers of the Republican party but all believers in the country should do everything in their power to keep alive the memory of Abraham Lincoln. The problems we have to solve as a nation now are not the same as those he had to face; but they can be solved aright only if we bring to the solution exactly his principles and his methods, his iron resolution, his keen good sense, his broad kindliness, his practical ability, and his lofty idealism.
Faithfully yours,
Theodore Roosevelt .
Letter to the Republican Club,
New York, January 26, 1903.
The Work of Nicolay & Hay
T
HE edition of Abraham Lincolns Works collected by Mr. John G. Nicolay and Col. John Hay must ever be regarded by students as the only complete, the only authorized, and the only standard collection.
For nearly thirty years they labored on this monumental work, and their positions as his Private Secretaries during the whole period of Lincolns official life, gave them opportunities which were beyond the reach of all others. One of them, and generally both, were on duty at Mr. Lincolns side every day through the pregnant years from 1860 to 1865. During all this time they collected material from day to-day for this work, and the President himself encouraged and assisted them. Some of his most precious manuscripts were given to them by his own hands.
For twenty years after President Lincolns death they gave most of their time to the collection and arrangement of the enormous amount of material at their disposal. The succeeding Secretaries of War gave them free and constant access to the official records, and Col. Robert T. Lincolnthe only surviving member of the Presidents familyturned over to them all his fathers papers. This added a vast amount of private material which had not come within the sphere of their official knowledge, and added the charming personal element to the works of the great statesman. When Colonel Lincoln requested them to compile his fathers writings and freely transferred to them all his legal rights as his fathers heir to protection by copyright, he at once made their collection the standard edition for all time, and rendered it impossible for any unauthorized publisher to successfully compete with them by issuing any edition which could have even the semblance of being complete.
New Material
T
HE eleven years which have elapsed since the first edition of this work was issued have but served to augment the honor, esteem, and love in which the people of America have ever held the Great War President. Naturally this national attitude has resulted in bringing to light a large amount of manuscript materialmuch of great historical and biographical valuewhich inevitably escaped even such conscientious workers as Mr. Nicolay and Colonel Hay. It required the work of numerous collectors in widely scattered places and the inevitable winnowing of time to bring these various items to light. Now, however, the field has been well worked. Few, if any, items of importance can be any longer hidden. This, therefore, seems to be the appropriate time to gather and add them to the work of the original editors, which is thus rounded out and made a complete and definitive collection. No attempt has been made to include every scrap of Lincolns writings, such as mere memoranda of unimportant happenings, nor brief notes to unknown persons. The aim has been to include everything which could throw light upon the marvellously varied characteristics of the man, or tend to elucidate the terribly complex historical, political, and social conditions amid which he lived. As nearly twenty per cent. more of Lincolns own writings, culled from numerous public and private collections, have been added to the first edition, it may safely be said that this result has been achieved.
Arrangement
A
FTER long consideration the editors decided upon a strictly chronological arrangement. In no other way could the many-sidedness of Lincoln be so clearly displayed, nor the relation of events be so vividly shown. The lovableness of Lincoln, the man, is apparent when, in the midst of the Lincoln and Douglas debates, he finds time to write a note guaranteeing the credit of a poor friend for furniture, or when, amidst the stirring times of 1864 and the pressing cares State imposed upon him, his fine sympathy bursts eloquently forth in the celebrated letter to Mrs. Bixby. By such an arrangement of his writings, Lincoln is shown to the world as he was from day to day. Instead of being merely a valuable collection of raw material for the future historian, arranged by some hard and fast system, it becomes a true history of himself and his times as written, not alone in his own words, but by his own actionsa human document pulsating with the life and the love, the greatness and the generosity, the sympathy and the shrewdness of one of the most illustrious men who ever lived.
Notes
I
N ORDER that the work may be read intelligently, without unduly taxing the readers memory or involving him in laborious research, notes have been added to the text where they were deemed necessary to remind the reader of the events which inspired the authors words, to explain obscure allusions, or to preserve the continuity of the narrative. The aim has been to make these notes as few and as brief as is compatible with a clear understanding of the subject.
Special Articles
N
EARLY every eminent man has been inspired by Lincolns marvelous personality to deliver some tribute to his genius. Some of these were published in pamphlets which have long been out of print, others are buried in forgotten newspapers, while others again are only found among the authors works in connection with unrelated essays, etc. In order to preserve the most important of these in permanent form, they have been printed as Special Introductions to the various volumes. They show the estimates of Lincolns greatness by eminent men who were his contemporaries, but whose points of view were as varied as their own personalities, and, taken together, they form a many-sided, many-minded biography.
Bibliography
T
HE SAME causes which have hitherto made it impossible to issue a complete edition of Lincolns works have made it equally impossible to compile a complete bibliography. Many attempts to do this have been made, and each one has shown careful and diligent research and has prepared the way for others still more complete. The bibliography which appears in the last volume of this set results from a careful comparison and consolidation of previous bibliographies, numerous large public library and trade catalogues, and is supplemented by all the latest accessions to the libraries of a number of famous private collectors. It is impossible to assure completeness in a matter of this kind, but at least this bibliography will mark one more step in that direction and contain all the information upon the subject which is at present available.
