"Contains over 100 primary source selections including essays, proclamations, letters, eulogies, poems, and songs to illustrate Abraham Lincoln's life, presidency, and legacy. Features include a chronology, bibliography, and contact information and web sites for associations, libraries, museums, and historic sites"--Provided by publisher.

Foreword /Douglas L. Wilson -- Preface -- pt. 1. Early life and career -- Introduction -- 1-1. Abraham Lincoln's autobiographies -- 1-2. Osborn H. Oldroyd's summary of Lincoln's life -- 1-3. Stepmother Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln on his childhood -- 1-4. Stepsister Matilda Johnston Moore on her older stepbrother -- 1-5. Cousin Dennis Hanks on Lincoln's early life -- 1-6. John Hanks reminisces about his younger cousin -- 1-7. Clarissa Tuft Vannattin tells how Lincoln helped her sister -- 1-8. Horace Greeley on Lincoln's education -- 1-9. James C. Ambrose on "Choosing 'Abe' Captain" -- 1-10. Best friend Joshua Speed on Lincoln's early career -- 1-11. Fellow lawyer and friend Leonard Swett recounts two versions of meeting Lincoln -- 1-12. Hamilton Wright Mabie on Lincoln as a man of letters -- 1-13. "Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?" / William Knox -- 1-14. "My child-hood home I see again" / Abraham Lincoln -- 1-15. Correspondence between Joshua Speed and Lincoln about their marriages -- 1-16. Ida M. Tarbell on Lincoln's rise in national stature -- 1-17. Correspondence between Grace Bedell and Lincoln about his beard -- 1-18. Lincoln says farewell to the citizens of Springfield -- pt. 2. The 16th president : great emancipator and commander-in-chief -- Introduction -- 2-1. James Russell Lowell on Lincoln as President -- 2-2. Nathaniel Hawthorne on meeting Lincoln -- 2-3. "We are coming Father Abraham, or, Three hundred thousand more : inscribed to our volunteers" / James Sloan Gibbons -- 2-4. James Shrigley recalls Lincoln appointing him hospital chaplain -- 2-5. Thomas T. Eckert remembers Lincoln at the War Department -- 2-6. The Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society congratulates Lincoln on emancipation -- 2-7. Frederick Douglass recalls Emancipation Day -- 2-8. Correspondence between President Lincoln and the Chicago Sanitary Commission -- 2-9. Francis B. Carpenter on painting The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation -- 2-10. James Abram Garfield on the Emancipation Proclamation -- 2-11. "The Emancipation Group" / John Greenleaf Whittier -- 2-12. E.W. Andrews accompanies Lincoln to Gettysburg -- 2-13. Jacob Hoke on Lincoln at Gettysburg -- 2-14. Excerpt from "The Gettysburg Ode" / Bayard Taylor -- 2-15. James Speed recalls Lincoln discharging a mother's sons from the army -- 2-16. Harriet Beecher Stowe shares her impressions of Lincoln -- 2-17. Sojourner Truth on meeting Lincoln -- 2-18. Joshua Speed remembers one of his last visits with Lincoln -- 2-19. Elizabeth Keckley remembers Lincoln's second inaugural -- 2-20. William H. Crook on Lincoln's trip to Richmond near the War's end -- 2-21. A news account of Lincoln's visit to Richmond -- 2-22. Charles Carleton Coffin describes the President's entry into Richmond -- 2-23. A report on the "Ax incident" -- pt. 3. The man behind the legend -- Introduction -- 3-1. Elizabeth Keckley describes some domestic scenes -- 3-2. Noah Brooks and William H. Crook on Lincoln and Tad -- 3-3. Francis B. Carpenter describes Lincoln's love of Shakespeare -- 3-4. Leonard Wells Volk on sculpting Lincoln -- 3-5. "On the life-mask of Abraham Lincoln" / Richard Watson Gilder -- 3-6. David R. Locke recounts conversations with Lincoln -- 3-7. Henry Villard describes Lincoln's storytelling -- 3-8. Albert B. Chandler on Lincoln's hair and newsboys -- 3-9. Henry Clay Whitney relates a Lincoln quip about weighty men -- 3-10. Alexander K. McClure shares popular anecdotes about Lincoln -- pt. 4. The death of Lincoln -- Introduction -- 4-1. William H. Crook remembers Lincoln's last day -- 4-2. Walt Whitman describes the scene of the assassination -- 4-3. Edwin M. Stanton gives a first-hand account of Lincoln's assassination -- 4-4. Maunsell B. Field describes the night of Lincoln's death -- 4-5. Elizabeth Keckley on hearing of his death -- 4-6. "the sorrow of the people" from the Chicago Tribune -- 4-7. Americans recall where they were : Caroline Richards, Lucretia Mott, and Jane Addams -- 4-8. "The death of Lincoln" / William Cullen Bryant -- 4-9. Eulogy by Ralph Waldo Emerson, April 19, 1865 -- 4-10. Eulogy by Henry Ward Beecher, April 23, 1865 -- 4-11. Eulogy by Phillips Brooks, April 23, 1865 -- 4-12. Eulogy by Seth Sweetser, April 23, 1865 -- 4-13. Eulogy by Matthew Simpson, May 4, 1865 -- 4-14. Eulogy by Charles Sumner, June 1, 1865 -- 4-15. From "Ode recited at the Harvard Commemoration" / James Russell Lowell -- 4-16. Poems by Walt Whitman -- pt. 5. Tributes and legacy -- Introduction -- 5-1. Remembrance / Mary Todd Lincoln -- 5-2. William H. Herndon gives his impressions of Lincoln's character -- 5-3. Horace Greeley on Lincoln's leadership -- 5-4. Tribute / Shelby M. Cullom -- 5-5. Tribute / Schuyler Colfax -- 5-6. Tribute / Frederick Douglass -- 5-7. Tribute / Ulysses S. Grant -- 5-8. William Tecumseh Sherman recalls his last meeting with Lincoln -- 5-9. Tribute / Walt Whitman -- 5-10. Robert G. Ingersoll on Lincoln's legacy -- 5-11. Tribute / Lyman Abbott -- 5-12. "Abraham Lincoln" / Rose Terry Cooke -- 5-13. "Lincoln, the man of the people" / Edwin Markham -- 5-14. "Lift every voice and sing" / James Weldon Johnson -- 5-15. "Lincoln" / Paul Laurence Dunbar -- 5-16. Jonathan P. Dolliver on Lincoln's legacy -- 5-17. Mark Twain on preserving Lincoln's birthplace -- 5-18. Tribute / Frederic Harrison -- 5-19. Tribute / Rutherford B. Hayes -- 5-20. Tribute / William McKinley -- 5-21. Tribute / Theodore Roosevelt -- pt. 6. Centennial celebrations -- Introduction -- 6-1. "The man of peace" / Bliss Carman -- 6-2. Centennial celebration in Chicago, Illinois : J.A. Macdonald -- 6-3. Centennial celebration Chicago, Illinois : Emil G. Hirsch -- 6-4. Centennial celebration in Chicago, Illinois : A. J. Carey -- 6-5. Centennial celebration in Chicago, Illinois : J.W.E. Bowen -- 6-6. Centennial celebration in Chicago, Illinois : Frederick Dent Grant -- 6-7. Centennial celebration in Springfield, Illinois : Jean Adrian Jusserand -- 6-8. Centennial celebration in Peoria, Illinois : Kogoro Takahira -- 6-9. Centennial celebration in Bloomington, Indiana : Adlai E. Stevenson -- 6-10. Centennial celebration in Hodgenville, Kentucky : James Grant Wilson -- 6-11. Centennial celebration in New York New York : Joseph Hodges Choate -- 6-12. Centennial celebration in New York, New York : Booker T. Washington -- 6-13. Centennial celebration in New York, New York : Chauncey M. Depew -- 6-14. Centennial celebration in Washington, D.C. : Joaquim Nabuco -- 6-15. Centennial celebration in Manchester, England : Church Howe -- 6-16. "Lincoln on pennies" / Carl Sandburg -- pt. 7. A selection of Lincoln's speeches and writings -- Introduction -- 7-1. Speech at Peoria, Illinois, October 16, 1854 -- 7-2. "House divided" speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858 -- 7-3. Speech at Cooper Institute, New York, February 27, 1860 -- 7-4. First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861 -- 7-5. Letter to Horace Greeley, August 22, 1862 -- 7-6. Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863 -- 7-7. Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 3, 1863 -- 7-8. Gettysburg Address, November 19. 1863 -- 7-9. Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865 -- Photo and illustration credits -- Chronology -- Bibliography -- Contact information for Lincoln groups : associations, educational institutes, landmarks and historic sites, libraries, museums, and other web resources related to Abraham Lincoln -- Author index -- Subject index.