Description
First edition of Abraham Lincoln: A History, by his personal secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay.
Octavo, [ten volumes], contemporary three-quarter brown morocco, raised bands, decorative gilt borders. Marbled endpapers and boards. Top edge gilt. Frontispiece portrait with tissue cover in each volume. Even rubbing to boards and some wear to leather spines. Text blocks all sound, some appear unread. (Monaghan, 1071) A very good 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.
