Collecting Abraham Lincoln Books – A Never Ending Joy

Abraham LincolnOver the years I’ve collected hundreds of books about Abraham Lincoln, though with thousands of books written about him I have a long way to go before I run out of options.  Having the money to collect more and the shelf space to store more, well, those are different questions altogether.  As of this writing (5/25/12) I have 644 titles in my collection. However, a title could be multiple volumes. For example, my 10-volume set of Nicolay and Hay’s “Abraham Lincoln: A History” published in 1890 counts only as one “title.”

Some quick numbers:

111    =     Number of books signed by the author (many directly to me)

273    =    Number of confirmed first editions

80      =    Number of first editions that are signed by the author

62      =    Number of books that have pre-1900 copyright dates

1834  =    Oldest copyright date in my collection

Of course, others have a bigger collection than I do.  Recently the Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership unveiled its 34-foot tower of Lincoln books.  While the tower repeats 205 actual titles, it holds about 6,800 books – a fraction of the estimated 15,000 books written about Lincoln.

Ford's Theatre Lincoln book tower

Clearly I need to step up the pace of my book collecting.

Check out my Abraham Lincoln page.

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About David J. Kent

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler, scientist, and Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of books on Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and Abraham Lincoln. His website is www.davidjkent-writer.com.
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4 Comments

  1. As I said, you guys are obsessed with numbers. But I have to say those are impressive numbers.

    • I can add 4 more books that I picked up at the used book store in Reston this weekend. 🙂

  2. Pingback: With the thoughts I’d be thinkin’ I could be another Lincoln | biobassett

  3. Pingback: Abraham Lincoln Book Review – The Oliver R. Barrett Lincoln Collection | Science Traveler

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