Abraham Lincoln, America’s heroic Civil War president, was also the greatest writer ever to occupy the White House. His addresses at Gettysburg and at his inaugurals, his presidential messages and public lectures, are an essential record of the war and have forever shaped the nation’s memories of it.

This deluxe two-volume boxed set gathers Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832-1858 and Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, first published in 1990, which together have been hailed as “the best selection of Lincoln’s writings available today, perhaps the best ever” (Christian Science Monitor). Edited by the late historian Don E. Fehrenbacher, these two books include all Lincoln’s significant works from the entirety of his public life, including both sides of the complete Lincoln-Douglas debates, dozens of speeches, hundreds of personal and political letters, communications to the generals in the field, presidential messages and proclamations, poems, and private reflections on democracy, slavery, and the meaning of the Civil War’s immense suffering.

This is the definitive Lincoln for the general reader, “a momentous and thrilling addition to any private library” in the words of the great literary critic Alfred Kazin.

See the contents for this volume (PDF, 440 KB)
See the contents for this volume (PDF, 930 KB)

Don E. Fehrenbacher (1920-1997) was professor of history at Stanford University. He was the author of several books, including Prelude to Greatness: Lincoln in the 1850’s, The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics, and Lincoln in Text and Context.

Each Library of America series edition is printed on acid-free paper and features Smyth-sewn binding, a full cloth cover, and a ribbon marker.