LINCOLN IN PRIVATE

A collection and analysis of Lincoln’s notes to himself.

Lincoln’s immortal words would barely fill a chapter, and he didn’t keep a diary. However, throughout his life, he scribbled innumerable notes and even modest essays. Meant for his own eyes, these rarely saw the light, but he kept them. Historians find them a source of insight into his thoughts, and they regularly appear in scholarly collections of his writings. “The point of many of Lincoln’s notes to himself was not to rehearse language and ideas for subsequent speeches,” writes historian and Lincoln scholar White. “Instead, they served as a private pressure valve so that he could better use his persuasive combination of calm logic and humor.” Biographies and popular histories quote liberally from the president’s writings, and this book is no exception. Wide-ranging, they are a mixed bag and include a poetic musing on his first sight of Niagara Falls; a dense, 10-page discussion of the pros and cons of the protective tariff; speech fragments; and innumerable scraps, ranging from a few sentence to long lists and charts regarding presidential appointments and campaign strategy. Occasionally, readers will encounter writing of genuine historical value, such as a public statement Lincoln proposed to release if defeated in the 1864 election or arguments pointing out the irrationality of slavery. These fragments appear in the appendix, and readers who turn to them first will realize that, while Lincoln may be immortal, most of what he put on paper is not. Many will feel grateful to biographers, who read everything that great men and women wrote so that we don’t have to. Fortunately, White is a formidable scholar, one of the leading authorities on Lincoln and his milieu. He devotes most of the text to summarizing the work and explaining what Lincoln was thinking and doing at the time.

A fine interpretation of Lincoln ephemera.