A complete bibliography of books dealing specially with Lincoln, and of books throwing important light upon his life or upon the history of the American Civil War, cannot be attempted here. The author aims only at mentioning the books which have been of greatest use to him and a few others to which reference ought obviously to be made.

The chief authorities for the life of Lincoln are:—

"Abraham Lincoln: A History," by John G. Nicolay and John Hay (his private secretaries), in ten volumes: The Century Company, New York, and T. Fisher Unwin, London; "The Works of Abraham Lincoln" (i. e., speeches, letters, and State papers), in eight volumes: G. Putnam's Sons, London and New York; and, for his early life, "The Life of Abraham Lincoln," by Herndon and Weik: Appleton, London and New York.

There are numerous short biographies of Lincoln, but among these it is not invidious to mention as the best (expressing as it does the mature judgment of the highest authority) "A Short Life of Abraham Lincoln," by John G. Nicolay: The Century Company, New York.

The author may be allowed to refer, moreover, to the interest aroused in him as a boy by "Abraham Lincoln," by C. G. Leland, in the "New Plutarch Series": Marcus Ward & Co., London; and to the light he has much later derived from "Abraham Lincoln," by John T. Morse, Junior: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A.

Among studies of Lincoln, containing a wealth of illustrative stories, a very high place is due to "The True Abraham Lincoln," by William Eleroy Curtis: The J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and London.

For the history of America at the period concerned the reader may be most confidently referred to a work, which by plentiful extracts and citations enables its writer's judgment to be checked, without detracting from the interest and power of his narrative, namely, "History of the United States, 1850-1877," by James Ford Rhodes, in seven volumes: The Macmillan Company, London and New York.

Among the shorter complete histories of the United States are: "The
United States: an Outline of Political History," by Goldwin Smith: The
Macmillan Company, London and New York; the article "United States of
America" (section "History") in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" (see
also the many excellent articles on American biography in the
"Encyclopaedia Britannica"); "The Cambridge Modern History: Vol. VII.,
United States of America": Cambridge University Press, and The
Macmillan Company, New York.

Two volumes of special interest in regard to the early days of the
United States, in some ways complementary to each other in their
different points of view, are: "Alexander Hamilton," by F. G. Oliver:
Constable & Co., and "Historical Essays," by John Fitch.

Almost every point in regard to American institutions and political practice is fully treated in "The American Commonwealth," by Viscount Bryce, O.M., two volumes: The Macmillan Company, London and New York.

For the attitude of the British Government during the war the conclusive authority is the correspondence to be found in "The Life of Lord John Russell," by Sir Spencer Walpole, K.C.B., two volumes: Longmans, Green & Co., London and New York; and light on the attitude of the English people is thrown by "The Life of John Bright," by G. M. Trevelyan: Constable, London, and Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A.

With respect to the military history of the Civil War the author is specially indebted to "The Civil War in the United States," by W. Birkbeck Wood and Major J. E. Edmonds, R.E., with an introduction by Spenser Wilkinson: Methuen & Co., London, and Putnam, New York, which is the only concise and complete history of the war written with full knowledge of all recent works bearing on the subject. Mr. Nicolay's chapters in the "Cambridge Modern History" give a very lucid narrative of the war.

Among works of special interest bearing on the war, though not much concerning the subject of this book, it is only necessary to mention "'Stonewall' Jackson," by Colonel Henderson, C.B., two volumes: Longmans, London and New York; "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War" (a book of monographs by several authors, many of them actors in the war), four volumes: T. Fisher Unwin, London, and Century Company, New York, and "Story of the Civil War," by J. C. Ropes: Putnam, London and New York.

It may be added that a life of General Robert E. Lee had been projected, as a companion volume to this in the same series, by Brigadier-General Frederick Maurice, C.B., and it is to be hoped that, though suspended by the present war, this book may still be written. Existing biographies of Lee are disappointing. It has been (especially in view of this intended book on Lee) outside the scope of this volume to present the history of the Civil War with special reference to the Southern actors in it, but "Memoirs of Jefferson Davis" must be here referred to as in some sense an authoritative, though not a very attractive or interesting, exposition of the views of Southern statesmen at the time.

An interesting sidelight on the war may be found in "Life with the Confederate Army," by Watson, being the experiences of a Scotchman who for a time served under the Confederacy.

In regard to slavery and to Southern society before the war the author has made much use of "Our Slave States," by Frederick Law Olmsted; Dix and Edwards, New York, 1856, and other works of the same author. Mr. Olmsted was a Northerner, but his very full observations can be checked by the numerous quotations on the same subject collected by Mr. Rhodes in his history.

For the history of the South since the war and the present position of
the negroes, see the chapters on this subject in Bryce's "American
Commonwealth," second or any later edition, two volumes: Macmillan,
London and New York.

Mr. Owen Wister's novel, "Lady Baltimore": Macmillan, London and New
York, embraces a most interesting study of the survivals of the old
Southern society at the present time and of the present relations
between it and the North.

The treatment of the negroes freed during the war is the main subject of "Grant, Lincoln and the Freedmen," by John Eaton and E. O. Mason: Longmans, Green & Co., London and New York, a book to which the author is also indebted for other interesting matter.

The personal memoirs, and especially the autobiographies dealing with the Civil War, are very numerous, and the author therefore would only wish to mention those which seem to him of altogether unusual interest. "Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant": Century Company, New York, is a book of very high order (Sherman's memoirs: Appleton, New York, and his correspondence with his brother: Scribner, New York, have also been quoted in these pages).

Great interest both in regard to Lincoln personally and to the history of the United States after his death attaches to "Reminiscences," by Carl Schurz, three volumes (Vol. I. being concerned with Germany in 1848): John Murray, London, and Doubleday Page, New York, and to "The Life of John Hay," by W. R. Thayer, two volumes: Constable & Co., London, and Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A.

The author has derived much light from "Specimen Days, and Collect," by
Walt Whitman: Wilson and McCormick, Glasgow, and McKay, U.S.A.

He may be allowed, in conclusion, to mention the encouragement given to him in beginning his work by the late Mr. Henry James, O.M., whose vivid and enthusiastic judgment of Lincoln he had the privilege of receiving.