people and only a limited number have access to the thousands of publications in which this material may be found and from which it has been patiently collected and classified, as gold is gathered from a mine and cast into form for convenient use. If this shall prove helpful to my busy, burdened fellow workers I shall feel amply rewarded for my tireless labors to that end. Special mention is here made of the efficient services of Miss Glenn Will in the diversified lines of labor by which this book has been produced. She has three times crossed the continent and prosecuted extensive research in public and private libraries and in museums and collections of rare Lincolniana. Too much cannot be said in commendation of her labors and achievements.

It is a great pleasure here to acknowledge the valuable assistance of Rev. James M. Campbell, D.D., in the preparation of this volume. Doctor Campbell has attained international fame as the author of many books of great worth, and to his ability and learning the character of this book is in no small measure due.

In a statement as brief as this must be it is not possible to mention all who have aided me in securing data or in the preparation of this work. One mind has been constantly alert and watchful for facts and suggestions concerning Lincoln, and by that assistance from my wife this publication has been made possible. With like constancy, though for a less extended period, our children have added to my resources of literature and art, and thus and otherwise have shared in my labors and achievements.

Hon. Robert T. Lincoln has with characteristic courtesy responded to all my requests for his counsel and assistance, and in interviews and by correspondence, his encouragement and aid have been exceedingly helpful. Persons in charge of public and private libraries, and of collections of Lincolniana have extended every needed courtesy. In prosecuting that research assistance of special value has been received from D. M. Gandier, D.D., Mrs. W. E. McVey, Rev. George W. Wilson, D.D.,

Rev. P. C. L. Harris, Miss Carline McIllvaine, Howard H. Russell, D.D., LL.D., Miss Laura R. Church and Mr. Douglas Volk.

Authors and publishers have with uniform cheerfulness granted permission to reproduce as has been requested. For such courtesies special acknowledgment is here made to Mr. Truman H. Bartlett, Century Company, F. C. Iglehart, D.D., Methodist Book Concern, Robert M. Browne, M.D., Mr. Frederick H. Meserve, George P. Putnam's Sons, Miss Ida M. Tarbell, Mrs. Nellie Blessing Eyster, Mr. J. L. G. Ferris, William J. Johnson, D.D., the Gerlach-Barklow Company, Mrs. Caroline Hanks Hitchcock, Houghton, Mifflin Company, Colonel A. K. McClure, Francis Grierson, Esq., Scribner's Magazine, Everybody's Magazine, Little, Brown & Company, L. C. Page & Company, Mr. John W. Lincoln, Miss Helen Nicolay, Mr. O. H. Olroyd, Mr. Harry Roseland, General James F. Rusling, Colonel W. O. Stoddard, Doubleday, Page & Company, and Hon. Henry W. Melvin.

From others whose names do not here appear I have received encouragement and aid which I hope ever to remember with appreciation and gratitude. And as I lay aside the pen with which these pages have been written, upon this work believed to have been begun and conducted under the promptings of the Divine Spirit, "I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God."

ERVIN CHAPMAN.

Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

"From the union of the Colonists, Puritans and Cavaliers, from the strengthening of their purposes and the crossing of their blood, came he who stands as the first typical American, the first to comprehend within himself all the strength and gentleness, all the majesty and grace of this Republic, Abraham Lincoln. He was the son of Puritan and Cavalier, for in his ardent nature were fused the virtues of both, and in the depth of his great soul the faults of both were lost. He was greater than Puritan, greater than Cavalier in that he was American. Let us build with reverent hands to the type of that simple but sublime life in which all types are honored." -HENRY W, GRADY.