Page:Life and Works of Abraham Lincoln, v1.djvu/21



No claim is made for the present edition that it is unabridged or definitive. The desire has been to make a reading and, indeed, working edition suited to the needs of the average American, to whom everything which reveals the character of the great President is of interest, and anything which does not afford such revelation, even though penned with Lincoln's hand, and signed with his name, is without real associational value.

For practical considerations the chronological sequence of the definitive editions has been subordinated to logical sequence. Speeches are arranged by themselves, state papers by themselves, etc.; the items of each class being arranged in chronological order. Letters are docketed alphabetically by the names of addressees. The edition is thus made self-indexing, a desirable characteristic of a working library.

For further explanation of the method of bookmaking employed, the reader is referred to the prefaces of each volume. Here, or in the immediate text concerned, will be found the various acknowledgments to publishers, collectors, and authors for the derivation of material.

It suffices to say in this preface that Mr. Francis D. Tandy has generously given the editor general permission to make liberal use of any material in his Gettysburg Edition to which others than himself have no prior rights. vii