Bulletin. [Vol. 8, no. 1]

BULLETIN NUMBER EIGHT 3

"LINCOLN IN THE YEAR 1859"
A few days ago the latest publication
of the Association, "Lincoln in the Year
1859," was mailed to its membership.
This is the second daily record of Lincoin's activities to make its appearance.
The first, "Lincoln in the Year 1858,"
was published in October of last year.
The third, covering Lincoln during
1860, will be issued before the end of the
current year.
The preface to the book just published
contains a paragraph setting forth what
the Association conceives to be the importance of this series of publications.
That statement has aroused enough interest to justify a more extended discussion.
A daily record of Lincoln's activities
furnishes much more information than
the mere recital of where he was and
what he was doing on successive days.
In 1858, for example, the record of his
speeches reveals clearly the political
strategy of his senatorial campaign.
With but occasional exceptions, those
speeches were made in the central tiers
of Illinois counties-the "Old Line
Whig" territory. Lincoln knew that
northern Illinois was his-there was no
need for effort there; southern Illinois
would go for Douglas-nothing he
could do would change that; but central Illinois-the man who won that
would be senator. We who know the
result can easily see this. The important thing is to determine whether
Lincoln, before the event, foresaw this
and planned accordingly. The record
of his speeches and a map of Illinois are
proof positive that he did.
"Lincoln in the Year 1859" makes a
different contribution. That year has
generally been considered a period of
quiescence in Lincoln's career. Yet,
when studied intensively, it shows that
Lincoln was active during this year, and
that his reputation was steadily increasing. In 1858 he was out of the state
but once, when he spoke at Burlington,
Iowa. That visit was the result of an
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LUXURIES OF LINCOLNIANA
Beautifully printed, expensive limited
editions of Lincoln studies evidently are
profitable publishing ventures, for they
continue to make their appearance.
Usually the works issued in this form
deal with restricted subjects, which,
while of considerable interest to a few,
would not have a wide enough appeal to
justify a regular trade edition.
Three recent books of this class are
William E. Barton's "A Beautiful
Blunder," Robert W. McBride's "Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln"
and Charles Moore's "Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural."
The first two are published by BobbsMerrill; the t h i r d by Houghton
Mifflin.
Dr. Barton excels in the definitive
treatment of specific subjects, as his long
series of monographs and pamphlets
adequately demonstrates. "A Beautiful
Blunder" takes its place at the head of
this group of minor studies. The book
is an amplification of that part of the
author's Life of Lincoln which dealt
with the Bixby letter. Here, in one
hundred and thirty-five pages, he goes
into every nook and corner of this fascinating subject-how Lincoln learned
of Mrs. Bixby's bereavement, how his
letter was made public, the present
whereabouts of the letter-no, it has not
been found!-,facsimiles and their makers, the later life of Mrs. Bixby and the
three sons who were not killed but died
years afterward. The book is excellent
throughout.
In his "Personal Recollections" Mr.
McBride sets down the memories of
sixteen months' service in a cavalry
company detailed as the President's personal bodyguard. The author frequently
came in contact with Lincoln. He saw
him walk at mid-night between the
White House and the War Department;
he watched him visit the wounded at
the Soldiers' Home; he was present at
the first meeting with Grant; and he
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