Gimme Some Oven

Gimme Some Lincoln

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You know how when you’ve thought about something for a while, suddenly references to it start popping up? Since I read Sarah’s review on the new film and wrote a post on Lincoln myself, I seem to see links to Abraham Lincoln everywhere.

When I stopped by my grandparents’ house after Thanksgiving, my grandma was going through her basement and passing things along to me. Guess what I found among her books. That’s right — this 1900 printed gem, Lincoln’s Stories and Speeches. Thanks, Grandma! To top it all off, it’s even stamped for Kansas City where I now call home.

After watching the film, I was struck with just how adept Lincoln was at telling stories tailor-made to whatever situation he found himself in — and they weren’t long rambling stories either, but rather, precisely what needed to be told to get his point across or steer the conversation in the direction he desired. As described in my new-old book on pages 103-104:

His faculty of making or finding a story to match every event in his history…was really marvelous… Every truth, or combination of truths, seemed immediately to clothe itself in a form of life, where he kept it for reference. His mind was full of stories; and the great facts of his life and history on entering his mind seemed to take up their abode in these stories, and if the garment did not fit it was so modified that it did.

In case you missed any of the Gimme Some Lincoln posts:

*I think Lincoln would approve the thriftiness of secondhand shopping. Plus, if you want to find sweet books like this and your grandma doesn’t have any to give you — you might need to brush up on your thrift store shopping and Liz can help you.

have you come across any great old books recently?

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bet mercer

Bet Mercer is a poet-photographer who writes at Gimme Some Reads and Everyday Poetry. She loves quotes, reading her favourite books over again, great conversation, laughter, trees, films, and travelling the world. Follow along with Bet on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, Etsy and Google+.

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0 comments on “Gimme Some Lincoln”

  1. That is the coolest book!!! Man, go Grandma! :-)

    I was also completely mesmerized by Lincoln’s storytelling in the film. I didn’t realize that was something he was so known for. Makes me wish I could weave more stories into everyday conversations. Maybe I’ll try… :)

  2. Just looked this up on Amazon. I have a feeling your version is more readable. Here’s their review of what they made FROM a 1920’s edition and they’re charging $30 for it:
    “This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.”

    • no more readable than mine; it’d be the same as I’m pretty sure it’s a copy of the version I have [thus the link] — typos and all.

  3. “…and if the garment did not fit it was so modified that it did…” Honest Abe wasn’t above embellishing a story, huh? Awesome! Great find, Bet (and Bet’s grandma)!

  4. So much lincoln! Ive noticed it even from way over here. I tried to read abraham lincoln, vampire hunter….to gory. :P thats as far as i have participated.

    • niiice. :) haven’t touched that one. not much into reading about vampires & such, though i do eventually want to read the original dracula and frankenstein stories.