Written by Isaac N. Arnold, a longtime personal friend, political ally and congressional supporter of Abraham Lincoln. Arnold was a prominent Chicago lawyer and antislavery politician who knew Lincoln through Illinois legal and political circles and later served in Congress during Lincoln’s presidency. He had earlier been active in the Free Soil movement and became a Republican as the party formed around opposition to the expansion of slavery. During the Civil War, Arnold pushed legislation against slavery and in 1864 introduced a proposed constitutional amendment abolishing slavery nationwide, part of the congressional effort that culminated in the 13th Amendment. The House historian describes him as one of Lincoln’s trusted congressional confidants and advisers.
Arnold knew Lincoln for decades and drew on his own memories, his four years in Congress during Lincoln’s presidency, and correspondence with people who knew Lincoln. Historians have continued to use the book for its firsthand accounts of Lincoln, emancipation, the 1864 election and the Lincoln administration. Historian David M. Potter called it “one of the best of the early biographies,” although Arnold’s admiration for Lincoln gives the book a distinctly sympathetic perspective.
This is the sixth edition, published in 1893; first published in 1884.
This copy is in good overall condition. The front and rear hinges/boards are cracked, but the binding remains firm and the book is still strong. Slight aging to the pages.