Lincoln: In His Own Words

by Milton Meltzer (Editor), Stephen Alcorn (Illustrator)

Historian Meltzer has compiled a moving collection of Lincoln's speeches, letters, and writings that convey the highest ideals of freedom, democracy, and equality in simple yet eloquent language. Illustrations.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History

226 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1993

About the author

Milton Meltzer wrote 110 books, five of which were nominated for the National Book Award. With Langston Hughes, he co-authored A Pictorial History of Black Americans, now in its sixth edition. He received the 2001 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his contribution to children's literature, the 1986 Jane Addams Peace Association Children's Book Award, and the 2000 Regina Medal. He died in New York City of esophageal cancer at age 94.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The American historian Milton Meltzer edited the 1993 book, A.Lincoln in His Own Words is a collection of Abraham Lincoln’s writings and speeches for young people. Meltzer provides context for Lincoln’s writings. I have read two well-done young adult books by Meltzer entitled Ten Kings and Ten Queens. A reader of A.Lincoln in His Own Words may be surprised that the death of Lincoln’s son, Willie in 1862 is not mentioned in the book, I guess none of Lincoln’s writings about Willie’s survival. Writing of Lincoln’s about the death of his son, Eddie in 1850 survives (Meltzer 49). The artist Stephen Alcorn illustrations are quite striking. Alcorn’s black and white illustration made from linocuts is quite memorable. The artist and writer Marion Boddy-Evans writes that linocuts “is a form of fine art printmaking where the printing plate is cut into linoleum. The linoleum is then inked, a piece of paper placed over it, and then run through a printing press or pressure applied by hand to transfer the ink to the paper. The result, a linocut print.” This book, A.Lincoln provides an excellent introduction to the writings and speeches of Abraham Lincoln. I found Maricon Boddy-Evans’ post on the website, The spruceCrafts entitled “Get Started with Lino Printing” from October 2019 (https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/an-in...) useful in writing this ‘review’.

[Cindy Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

During the course of his public life, Abraham Lincoln left a vast record or speeches and correspondence that give insight into his views on important issues of the day. Lincoln in His Own Words, edited by historian Milton Meltzer, directly reprints select passages to help readers build an understanding of this complex man who played a crucial role in U.S. history.

Lincoln’s more famous speeches, like the Gettysburg Address and his inaugural comments, are included, but so are more personal notes, like his letter to the daughter of a man who died in battle. Lincoln’s political speeches clearly point to his objection to slavery long before he became president. They also show his belief that the U.S. Constitution was something to be defended at all costs, laying out his arguments for why secession could not be valid.

Stephen Alcorn’s illustrations of famous people during Lincoln’s times add interest, as do the brief profiles of those people at the back of the book. A chronology of events during Lincoln’s lifetime also helps to put his life in perspective of other things happening in the country.

I recommend Lincoln in His Own Words to history lovers and readers aged 14 and up.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lincoln in His Own Words by Milton Meltzer, illustrated by Stephen Alcorn, 221 pages. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1993 (reprint 2018). $13.

Content: Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: G.

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

This is a biography of Abraham Lincoln told with a mixture of the author’s explanations and Lincoln’s own words. From the time Lincoln was little, he was interested in understanding the world around him. He was a humanitarian and lawyer and he loved his country. During his presidency, Lincoln tried to keep the country together during the Civil War and fought for slaves’ freedom. In these moving speeches Lincoln’s goodness and passion for what is right becomes evident.

This is a slow read with lots of interesting facts and great quotes. I think this book would work well in a classroom where the teacher can concentrate on specific quotes (not necessarily the whole book at one time) and have the students study history from Lincoln’s own words. I love Abraham Lincoln and I enjoyed the great illustrations and extensive timeline as well as his inspiring words.

C. Peterson
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2018...

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book, as I read quite a few books, largely because it was referred to as a good source of Lincoln quotes by my local church pastor in our most recent Spokesmen’s club meeting. Being fond of reading books about Abraham Lincoln, though [1], and being aware of the thousands and thousands of books on Lincoln that exist, it is fair to wonder what sets this book apart. In many ways, this book, which is fairly short (at just over 200 pages) and full of striking illustrations by Stephen Alcorn, is best viewed as a gateway book to read the works of Abraham Lincoln, in that it provides works from a broad area of Lincoln’s own writing, with accompanying biographical sketches of the people in the pictures of each section of the book and with a mostly helpful introduction to the context of each of the selected speeches. It is a gateway book, though, and not the ultimate destination because the book lacks the depth of scholarship of the writings of, say, Harry Jaffa, and the fact that the speeches are often redacted means that although highly quotable excerpts are included herein, the whole context and content of the speeches are not.

The contents of this book are straightforward, and the book is appropriate for any audience from preteen and above. This is the sort of book I read happily at around eight to ten, and can read with pleasure even now, even though it is somewhat basic. The writings of Lincoln are divided into fourteen chapters based on the period of Lincoln’s life that the writings refer to: his childhood and youth, his early days in New Salem, his time as a roving lawyer, his career in Congress, his unsuccessful effort in 1854 to secure election into the Senate, his efforts against Stephen Douglas in 1858 and afterwards as a party figure, as well as his Cooper Union speech (his contribution to the 1860 Presidential campaign), his short speeches on the way to Washington DC, the period of his early presidency before the war, the early part of the war, the middle part of the war where he announced the Emancipation Proclamation, his speeches in 1864 as he thought he was a sure one-term president, and his final speeches from his second inaugural to his death. After the writings there are some profiles of some of Lincoln’s contemporaries, a chronology of his life, and a note for sources for further reading, which many readers will want to take advantage of as an encouragement to read more books on Lincoln.

Although this is definitely a worthwhile work on Lincoln, especially for a younger audience and as an introductory book to Lincoln’s prolific body of work as a political and philosophical writer, it is not without criticism. Some will object to the book because of the way that it condenses some of Lincoln’s longer speeches, which is understandable on account of their length—Lincoln’s debates with Douglas included an hour and a half of speaking, and some of his speeches, like Peoria, went to three hours or so. Even if Lincoln did not speak as quickly as some of us do, that is still a lot of writing to include, more than the author was willing to do, and understandably so for questions of balance and scope of work. Aside from that, though, the book contains occasional factual errors which are more problematic. For instance, the author states that eleven states had seceded by the time Lincoln took office (108), which is incorrect, as only seven had seceded by this time, the last four of which seceded after Fort Sumter. These minor factual details make the book an unreliable source on American history, except to provide general background and context for Lincoln himself, and since this book best serves those readers who take it as an invitation to read longer and deeper works on the Civil War or Lincoln’s political thought, those readers will not be led astray by the book’s occasional errors, which were hopefully corrected in later editions of the book after 1993.

[1] See, for example:

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[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of quotes mixed with a history of Lincoln’s life. I love Abraham Lincoln so this was an enjoyable read.

[Childrens Book Medium]

Illustrations are done in linocuts, bold and expressive

[Robyn91856 · Rating 4 out of 5]

While going through the Museum of American History, there was a special exhibit on Abraham Lincoln. I realized then, that he was a great writer and felt strongly about those things he believed in, especially the emanicipation of slaves. This book was in the bookstore, and tells in his own words, his famous speeches his feelings about America

[Roy Gedeborg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this collection of Lincoln's speeches and writings. The excerpts were loosely gathered with a nostalgic rendering of his life events, just enough surrounding details to give context.