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Weik, Jesse W : The Real Lincoln: A Portrait; With Illustrations

Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA, 1922

Original publisher's dark blue cloth binding with gilt lettering on front cover and spine. 6 1/4" x 9." 323 pages, complete. Black-and-white illustrations, complete. List of Illustrations in front. Index in back. Former owner's bookplates tipped in on front pastedown ("Ferdinand Phillipson"). There are several newspaper clippings tipped in on front pastedown and front free endpaper dated c. 1925 about newly found manuscripts by Lincoln and a facsimile of a "hitherto unpublished address of Lincoln." Pages are very clean and intact except for light age toning throughout and moderate browning and offsetting from the clippings on front endpaper. The remaining pages are not browned. Covers are clean and intact except for slight darkening and rubbing along spine, slight wear to edges and corners, and a few small stains to front, back, and spine. Binding is tight. A Very Good copy. Jesse W. Weik's famous biography of Abraham Lincoln. Weik conveys a relatively more personal perspective of Lincoln and his connection to Springfield, Illinois. This particular biography focuses on the life of Lincoln before his presidency that encompasses his early years and ancestry up to the time he left for Washington, D.C. from Springfield for his inauguration. Highlights include Lincoln as a lawyer, his involvement in local politics of Springfield, and anecdotes by neighbors and acquaintances about his daily life. In his Foreword, Weik cites Leonard Swett's critique of William Herdon's biography as an influence. According to Weik, Swett, along with other friends and acquaintances of Lincoln including Joseph Medill, Horace White, Henry C. Whitney, Leonard W. Volk, and Alexander Hesler, had generally felt that Herndon, while certainly a qualified source, had not fully brought out the "human side" of Lincoln. Weik writes, "[T]here should be more local color, more of the details of his personal history as revealed by his neighbors--in short, the doors of his office and of his home should be made to swing open and the light turned on so that we may indeed view him as a man." Jesse W. Weik (1857-1930) was an American author, historian, and public servant. In 1882, Weik had been appointed as Special Examiner of the United States Pension Bureau and had been assigned to examine pension claims made in Springfield. This marked the beginning of his comprehensive research project delving into Lincoln's life and career. Weik and William Herndon, Lincoln's former law partner, co-authored the first authoritative biography of Lincoln in 1889, titled, Herndon's Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life. In 1892, Weik published a revised edition of Herndon's Lincoln. The Real Lincoln, first published in 1922, is Weik's third biographical book about Lincoln.. Book. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: Hardcover

1st Edition

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