When I first came to the west some forty-four or forty-five years ago, at sundown you had completed a journey of some thirty miles, which you had commenced at sunrise; and you thought you had done well. Now, only six hours have elapsed since I left my home in Illinois, where I was surrounded by a large concourse of my fellow citizens, most all of whom I could recognize; and I find myself far from home, surrounded by the thousands I now see before me, who are strangers to me. Still we are bound together, I trust, in Christianity, civilization and patriotism, and are attached to our country and our whole country. While some of us may differ in political opinions, still we are all united in one feeling for the Union.
A CONDENSED BIBLIOGRAPHY
(The bibliographical notes which the author made while this work was in preparation reached a total of several thousand. From these he at first selected about five hundred titles, being practically a catalogue of his own Lincoln library, a list of books about Lincoln which he considered worth buying. But this also appeared much longer than was needed for the purposes of this book, and he has therefore prepared this shorter list of books bearing more directly upon the subject matter of this volume, and for the convenience of such readers as are unfamiliar with the literature of the subject he has added comments upon some of the books or articles.)
I. Lincoln's Own Writings and Speeches
Abraham Lincoln: Complete Works. Edited by John G. Nicolay and John Hay. In Two Volumes. New York: The Century Company, 1894.
There is a larger edition in twelve volumes, with some additions, and there are two other notable collections, both of them good. No one of these, however, is entirely complete; and there are volumes such as "The Uncollected Letters of Lincoln" edited by Gilbert A. Tracy (Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1917) which supplement the "complete" works. Very nearly everything which the reader requires, however, is in the Nicolay and Hay work.
II. Lives of Abraham Lincoln
Autobiography. Facsimile Reproduction of Autobiographical Sketch written by Abraham Lincoln for Jesse W. Fell in 1860. Published by his daughters at Normal, Ill.