"Lost" Speeches and Agrapha

[RJNorton]

Welcome to the forum, Matt. The most famous of the speeches for which there is no known authentic text is called the Lost Speech. Regarding this speech Lincoln scholar Paul Angle wrote:

"The Illinois State Republican Convention met at Bloomington on May 29, 1856. It furnished the setting for one of the most dramatic episodes of Lincoln's life ... A speech by Lincoln was rarely an ordinary occurrence, but on this occasion he made one of the really great efforts of his life. So powerful was his eloquence that the reporters forgot to take notes of what he was saying. Several commenced, but in a few minutes they were entirely captured by the speaker's power, and their pencils were still." (I've seen other explanations for why the text of the speech was lost, but Angle's is the one I see most often.)

Despite the lack of a legitimate text there is Lincoln's Lost Speech: The Pivot of His Career, a 400+ page book by Elwell Crissey (New York, Hawthorn Books, 1967).

The opening sentence of Mr. Crissey's book is, "Abraham Lincoln's 'Lost Speech' may have been the most influential oration delivered in America since the founding of the Republic."

Matt, yes, there is a collection of Lincoln's speeches, letters, etc. If one goes through the The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln I think you will find numerous instances of speeches that are mentioned in newspapers but without a complete text. Sometimes there is just a summary; sometimes a summary with quotes from the speech included. Also, included are fragments, notes, thoughts, etc. written down by Abraham Lincoln that often were never spoken orally.

Matt, if you are looking for a good compilation of Lincoln quotes one book I would recommend is Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln edited by Don Fehrenbacher and Virginia Fehrenbacher. Other books I would recommend are A Treasury of Lincoln Quotations edited by Fred Kerner, Of the People, By the People, For the People and other Quotations from Abraham Lincoln edited by Gabor S. Boritt, and Abe Lincoln Laughing: Humorous Anecdotes from Original Sources by and about Abraham Lincoln edited by P.M. Zall.