Reviews
January 2023
by M.A.D. Staff
“In 1901 a somewhat redacted version of the notebook was issued, but this version is complete, with all the pages in Lincoln’s handwriting reproduced with transcripts, and with newspaper accounts of his campaign speeches included, as well as Lincoln’s eight-page cover letter to Brown. It is in every sense a scrapbook from the campaign trail and an engaging and fascinating look into Lincoln’s early thinking on a subject that would be his and the nation’s destiny.
February 2023
“by Abraham Lincoln: His 1858 Time Capsule by Ross Heller (CustomNews, Seaside Books, 2022, 188 pp) Editor (and Lincoln Group member) Ross Heller offers up both a “classic” and a newly released book in one.
* * * *
“In 1858, while campaigning for the U.S. Senate against Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln unwittingly created what Heller calls a “time capsule of his contemporary mind-set on both slavery and race relations.” It was captured in a small 3.25” x 5.78” notebook, or scrapbook, and sent to a political colleague named James N. Brown. Heller has republished the notebook’s content and augmented it with its fascinating history.
* * * *
“As had been the case with the original notebook, the current physical book is small in format, with much of the content reproduced from newspapers and letters. That content provides a deeper understanding of Lincoln’s thinking, and the history of the notebook’s journey through time is fascinating in itself. It’s well worth the read.”