Lincoln, Abraham (Porte, Joel)

Lincoln: The Library of America Bundle (Speeches & Writings 1832-1858, with: Lincoln, Speeches & Writings 1859-1865)

New York, NY: Library of America, 1989. First Printing. Hardcover. “We are a great empire. We are eighty years old. We stand at once the wonder and admiration of the whole world, and we must enquire what it is that has given us so much prosperity, and we shall understand that to give up that one thing, would be to give up all future prosperity. This cause is that every man can make himself.” (Lincoln, from his August 27, 1856 “Speech at Kalamazoo, Michigan”). This bundle constitutes what is perhaps the supreme assembly of edicts and musings from our (doomed-&-beloved) 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. The variant subtitles of each volume speak to this evident fact. The first volume, as the flap copy declaims, “illuminates the political career of our greatest president and reveals his extraordinary gifts as a writer. Covering the years 1832 to 1858, it contains 240 speeches, letters, drafts, and fragments that record his emergence as an eloquent anti-slavery advocate and defender of the Constitution.” The corollary copy on the second volume likewise announces itself, reading “This volume, the second of two, collects writings from 1859 to 1865 and contains 555 speeches, messages, proclamations, letters, memoranda, and fragments. They record the words and deeds—the order to resupply Fort Sumter, the emancipation of the slaves held in the Confederacy, and proposals to offer the South generous terms of reconstruction—by which he hoped to defend and preserve the Union.” Both volumes are edited by Joel Porte (1933-2006), an “internationally renowned authority” on the life and work of Ralph Waldo Emerson (who is incidentally among Your Devoted Managing Curator’s favorite authors). [ISBNs: 0-940450-43-7; 0-940450-63-1]. First Trade Hardcover Edition(s) in unclipped dust-jacket(s); First Printing(s), as indicated on copyright page. Both books in stunningly very fine conditions, bordering on “as new” designation; dust-jackets in similarly pristine condition, with only faintest shelf-wear to front cover of the first volume, quite clearly (as of yet!) unread. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #5005]

Price: $55.00