Abraham Lincoln: His Life in Print

An illustrated study of Abraham Lincoln’s reading life.

Few people in history are written about more than Abraham Lincoln, and deservedly so, for as America’s sixteenth president he oversaw both the victory of the Union in the Civil War and the end of slavery in the country. But the role of this abundance of books in creating the story of Lincoln is more complex than commonly understood, and it began before his assassination made him the subject of national mythology—it began even before he was president. Lincoln used books to create himself: to become a lawyer, to develop his style of speaking, to disseminate his vision, and to elevate himself as a political candidate. In many ways, books made the man.

Abraham Lincoln: His Life in Print is a handsome and generously illustrated volume that describes the more than 150 historically essential books and printed ephemera that made Lincoln’s life and legacy, all drawn from the Americana collection of the philanthropist David M. Rubenstein. Each chapter examines a principal theme in the story of Lincoln, introduced by a short essay by a leading scholar in the field that introduces readers to current ways of understanding Lincoln. Together, this book creates a portrait-in-print of Abraham Lincoln and shows the evolving image of a great American as seen by himself, his contemporaries, historians through the ages, and vitally so by citizens today.