Bibliograph

Lincoln, the biography of a writer, Fred Kaplan

Type

Label

Lincoln, the biography of a writer, Fred Kaplan

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 357-362) and index

resource.biographical

individual biography

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Lincoln

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

857656086

Responsibility statement

Fred Kaplan

Sub title

the biography of a writer

Summary

For Abraham Lincoln, whether he was composing love letters, speeches, or legal arguments, words mattered. In Lincoln, acclaimed biographer Fred Kaplan explores the life of America's sixteenth president through his use of language as a vehicle both to express complex ideas and feelings and as an instrument of persuasion and empowerment. Like the other great canonical writers of American literature - a status he is gradually attaining - Lincoln had a literary career that is inseparable from his life story. An admirer and avid reader of Burns, Byron, Shakespeare, and the Old Testament, Lincoln was the most literary of our presidents. His views on love, liberty, and human nature were shaped by his reading and knowledge of literature

Table Of Contents

Reading Lincoln's words -- "All the books he could lay his hands on, " 1809-1825 -- Shakespeare, 1825-1834 -- Burns, Byron, and love letters, 1834-1837 -- "How miserably things seem to be arranged, " 1837-1842 -- "Were I President, " 1842-1849 -- "Honest seeking, " 1849-1854 -- "The current of events, " 1855-1861 -- The master of language and the Presidency, 1861-1865

Classification