41 James Buchanan, and over 30 additional document and signatures from such notable Americans as Charles Sumner, William Seward, Hannibal Hamlin and Robert Todd Lincoln. An altogether splendid, impressive and desirable production. John Nicolay, Lincoln’s private secretary, “enjoyed the intimate friendship of the President… Few men were as close to Lincoln as Nicolay or so fully enjoyed his confidence.” John Hay, after serving as Lincoln’s assistant and confidante, served as Secretary of State under Presidents McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, and also achieved literary fame. The two men collaborated for over a decade; their monumental biography of Lincoln and definitive collection of his works, first published in 1890 and 1894, were the result” (DAB). In 1905, Tandy published the Gettysburg Edition of Nicolay and Hay’s work, 1000 sets “commonly bound in red cloth… Variants from [the] same plates appear as [the] Memorial and Presidential Editions… The latter consists of 50 registered sets printed throughout on Japanese vellum,” and bound in a fashion similar but not identical to the present set (Monaghan 1471). Those 50 sets bore the imprint “Tandy-Thomas” on the volumes’ title pages. The present set’s title pages bear only the Tandy imprint, and further identify the production as a “New and Enlarged” edition of Lincoln’s Works, a notice that does not appear in the 50 registered sets. The number of these stated “unique extra illustrated” copies is unknown, but cannot have been large, given that no two sets could contain all the same inserted illustrations. Sets of both the Presidential Edition and the “New and Enlarged” Presidential Edition are found extra-illustrated. This set includes a final, 24th volume consisting of additional portraits bound with over 30 letters and official documents signed by some of the leading figures of the period, including, of course, Lincoln and his circle. This volume includes: A beautifully bound, splendidly extra-illustrated set dedicated to the life, writings and legacy of President Lincoln, in fine condition. “The struggle of today, is not altogether for today – it is for a vast future also.”
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