Description
First edition of Abraham Lincoln: A History, by his personal secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay.
Octavo, [ten volumes], contemporary three quarter blue morocco, raised bands, decorative gilt borders. Blue endpapers, blue cloth boards. Top edge gilt. Frontispiece portrait with tissue cover in each volume. Conservative restoration to head of leather spine on three volumes, two other volumes with dampstain to top edge of text block (minimal impact to text). Text blocks all sound, some appear unread. (Monaghan, 1071)
An attractive example of this definitive early history of Abraham Lincoln.
Nicolay and Hay began work on this epic history of Abraham Lincoln in 1874. They contacted Robert Todd Lincoln, the only surviving son of President Lincoln, for his permission to use Lincoln’s papers to write the book. By 1885 the work was shared with Robert Todd Lincoln and others, who offered some critiques. The book was sold door to door in 1890 at a price of $50.00 for the full set. It sold 7,000 copies, but was not a commercial success. In 1902, Nicolay wrote an abridged one-volume version, which sold well.
