Synopses & Reviews
During his four years in the White House, Abraham Lincoln received between 250 and 500 letters a dayand#151;not only correspondence from public officials, political allies, and military leaders but from ordinary Americans of all races who never knew the president yet nonetheless felt the urge to share their views with him.
Harold Holzer, the editor of Dear Mr. Lincoln: Letters to the President, dips once again into Lincolnand#8217;s bulging mailbag to assemble and annotate a volume of letters, many of them never-before-published, that the American people wrote to their president during the Civil Warand#151;correspondence that offered praise, criticism, advice, threats, abuse, and appeals for help and for special favors from men and women throughout the country.
Significantly, this collection may be more representative of the mood of the country at the time than Lincoln might have known; it includes letters from black Americans, originally routed to the War Departmentand#8217;s Colored Troops Bureau, that Lincoln never saw. Ed D. Jennings, who simply wanted clarification of his status, writes: "Some Reckon and others guess But what I wish to know is this, what do you mean to do with us Col[ore]d population are we to suffer and our enemies reap or can we Reap now I was brought up a farmer and if I can have a hut in my own native land and a little help that will suffice me."
"At a single reading," Holzer notes in his preface, Lincolnand#8217;s staff "might handle: requests for political appointments (they might come from an ex-President, a New York archbishop, even Lincolnand#8217;s own minister); suggestions for how better to manage the war; requests for autographs, locks of hair, and personal appearances; presumptuous political advice; rhymes, hymns, epistlesand#151;and on one occasion, sixteen pages of vicious abuse in verseand#151;from amateur poets; and gifts and tokens that included food, drink, clothing, pictures, and sculptures."
Holzer has rescued these voicesand#151;sometimes eloquent, occasionally angry, often poignant, at times poeticand#151;from the obscurity of the archives of the Civil War. The letters, of course, speak for themselves, but Holzerand#8217;s introduction and annotations provide historical context for events and people described as well as for those who wrote so passionately to their president in Lincolnand#8217;s America.
Review
and#147;[A] collection that shows the spirit of America, at its biggest and its meanest.and#8221;and#160;and#160; and#151;Publishers Weekly
Review
and#147;Holzer, a leading authority on the period, does a masterful job of annotating and explaining the letters, truly recreating the mood and atmosphere of the time.and#8221;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; and#151;Parade Magazine
Review
and#147;The contents of the present volume include newly discovered letters, most important a batch of hitherto neglected letters from African Americans. . . . They make for absolutely fascinating reading, evoking the full range of human emotions from laughter to tears.and#8221;and#151;Library Journal
and#147;A revealing glimpse into how civil war and emancipation appeared from the White House, this browsable collection of epistles and replies enriches the body of Lincolniana.and#8221;and#151;Booklist
and#147;Holzer presents an enlightening selection that reveals something of the variety of pressures Lincoln faced each day. The editorand#8217;s ebullient personality emerges clearly from the preface and introduction.and#8221;and#151;Civil War History
and#147;Holzer has done a wonderful service to anyone interested in the Presidency in general and the Lincoln administration in particular.and#8221;and#151;Journal of Illinois History
Synopsis
Harold Holzer, the editor of Dear Mr. Lincoln: Letters to the President, dips once again into Lincoln's bulging mailbag to assemble and annotate a volume of letters, many of them never before published, that the American people wrote to their president during the Civil War - correspondence that offered praise, criticism, advice, threats, abuse, and appeals for help and for special favors from men and women throughout the country. Significantly, this collection may be more representative of the mood of the country at the time than Lincoln might have known; it includes letters from black Americans, originally routed to the War Department's Colored Troops Bureau, that Lincoln never saw. The letters, of course, speak for themselves, but Holzer's introduction and annotations provide historical context for events and people described as well as for those who wrote so passionately to their president in Lincoln's America.
Synopsis
As president, Abraham Lincoln received between two hundred and five hundred letters a dayand#151;correspondence from public officials, political allies, and military leaders, as well as letters from ordinary Americans of all races who wanted to share their views with him. Here, and in his critically acclaimed volume Dear Mr. Lincoln, editor Harold Holzer has rescued these voicesand#151;sometimes eloquent, occasionally angry, at times poeticand#151;from the obscurity of the archives of the Civil War. The Lincoln Mailbag includes letters written by African Americans, which Lincoln never saw, revealing to readers a more accurate representation of the nationand#8217;s mood than even the president knew. This first paperback edition of The Lincoln Mailbag includes a new index and fourteen illustrations, and Holzerand#8217;s introduction and annotations provide historical context for the events described and the people who wrote so passionately to their president in Lincoln's America.
About the Author
Harold Holzer is the senior vice president for external affairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Among the countryand#8217;s leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the Civil War era, Holzer is the author, coauthor, or editor of twenty-three booksand#151;including The Lincoln Image, The Lincoln Family Album, and Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech that Made Abraham Lincoln Presidentand#151;for which he has received numerous awards. He is the cochair of the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.