signed first edition original cloth
1889 · Chicago, New York, and San Francisco
by LINCOLN, ABRAHAM; HERNDON, WILLIAM H.; WEIK, JESSE WILLIAM
Chicago, New York, and San Francisco: Belford, Clarke & Company, 1889. First edition. original cloth. Very Good. FIRST EDITION, PRESIDENT BENJAMIN HARRISON’S COPIES, WITH EACH VOLUME INSCRIBED BY WEIK TO HARRISON: “To President Harrison / Compliments of / Jesse W. Weik / June 14, 1889.”. Herndon’s Lindcoln is the first important and ultimately the most influential biography of Abraham Lincoln, written by his longtime friend and law partner, William Herndon and his assistant Jesse Weik.
“Among the many who remembered Lincoln from personal acquaintance, one was sure he had known him more intimately than any of the rest and influenced the world’s conception of him more than all the others put together. That one was his former law partner William Herndon. When Lincoln died, Herndon began a new career as Lincoln authority, collecting reminiscences wherever he could find them and adding his own store of memories. Although admiring Lincoln, he objected to the trend toward sanctifying him. He saw, as the main feature of Lincoln’s life, the far more than ordinary rise of a self-made man, a rise from the lowest depths to the greatest heights—‘from a stagnant, putrid pool, like the gas which, set on fire by its own energy and self-combustible nature, rises in jets, blazing, clear, and bright.’” (Richard N. Current, "Reputation and character of Abraham Lincoln," in Britannica).
Upon publication, some criticized the book for its frankness and perceived lack of reverence, but over time Herndon's Lincoln has been praised for its authenticity and as an essential resource for understanding the personal and human side of Abraham Lincoln.
AN EXCEPTIONAL ASSOCIATION COPY: One president’s copy of another president’s biography. One can surmise that as a fellow Republican and former Union officer, Benjamin Harrison (president from 1889-1893) would have been keenly interested in the life of Lincoln.
Chicago, New York, and San Francisco: Belford, Clarke & Company, 1889. Octavo, original cloth with gilt decorations. Handsomely boxed. Three volumes (all first editions). Very light wear to cloth, some splits to text block, but all holding. A wonderful set with historical importance. (Inventory #: 2911)
“Among the many who remembered Lincoln from personal acquaintance, one was sure he had known him more intimately than any of the rest and influenced the world’s conception of him more than all the others put together. That one was his former law partner William Herndon. When Lincoln died, Herndon began a new career as Lincoln authority, collecting reminiscences wherever he could find them and adding his own store of memories. Although admiring Lincoln, he objected to the trend toward sanctifying him. He saw, as the main feature of Lincoln’s life, the far more than ordinary rise of a self-made man, a rise from the lowest depths to the greatest heights—‘from a stagnant, putrid pool, like the gas which, set on fire by its own energy and self-combustible nature, rises in jets, blazing, clear, and bright.’” (Richard N. Current, "Reputation and character of Abraham Lincoln," in Britannica).
Upon publication, some criticized the book for its frankness and perceived lack of reverence, but over time Herndon's Lincoln has been praised for its authenticity and as an essential resource for understanding the personal and human side of Abraham Lincoln.
AN EXCEPTIONAL ASSOCIATION COPY: One president’s copy of another president’s biography. One can surmise that as a fellow Republican and former Union officer, Benjamin Harrison (president from 1889-1893) would have been keenly interested in the life of Lincoln.
Chicago, New York, and San Francisco: Belford, Clarke & Company, 1889. Octavo, original cloth with gilt decorations. Handsomely boxed. Three volumes (all first editions). Very light wear to cloth, some splits to text block, but all holding. A wonderful set with historical importance. (Inventory #: 2911)
(212) 326-8907
