LIMITED EDITION OF LINCOLN’S COMPLETE WORKS, EDITED BY NICOLAY AND HAY

LINCOLN, Abraham. The Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln. Edited by John G. Nicolay and John Hay. [Harrogate, Tennessee]: Lincoln Memorial University, [1926]. Twelve volumes. Octavo, original full red morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spines and covers in strap-work designs, top edges gilt, uncut. $4800.

Handsomely bound limited "Sponsors' Edition" of Lincoln’s works, number 479 of an unstated limitation, the definitive edition, illustrated with photogravures and facsimiles, including a frontispiece portrait in each volume.

First published in 1894, the first definitive collection of Lincoln's works, edited by Nicolay and Hay, was the result of more than ten years of collaboration. John Nicolay, Lincoln's private secretary, "enjoyed the full intimate friendship of the President… few men were as close to Lincoln as Nicolay or so fully enjoyed his confidence" (DAB). After serving as Lincoln's assistant and confidant, John Hay achieved literary fame as the co-author of the monumental 1890 biography of Lincoln, and for his skill in helping edit the Complete Works. Lincoln Memorial University, founded in 1897, produced this edition in 1926 not only to fund its endowment but also "to open a fountain of Lincolniana to which all true Americans will repair to refresh their faith in, and love and zeal for, American ideals and institutions." The text is issued from the plates of the "New and Enlarged Edition," which was first published in 1905. Without original cardboard slipcases. See Monaghan 1471. Bookplates.

Fine condition.