Shakespeare and Lincoln

[David Lockmiller]

(06-10-2018 06:47 PM)Steve Wrote:  I came across this announcement that might interest forum members who live in the Illinois area who have a love of Lincoln and Shakepeare. I live too far away to go to any of these events, but it may be of interest to some of you here:

http://www.pjstar.com/entertainmentlife/...s-writings

BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS — The Illinois Shakespeare Festival announces a “Shakespeare in the Land of Lincoln” symposium, which will explore the unique fascination that Abraham Lincoln had with William Shakespeare’s writings. The symposium events coincide with the festival’s 2018 season of plays and other activities starting June 30.

I think that it would be a good idea for a well-regarded lecturer and appreciator of President Lincoln to read to an accepting audience first-hand contemporaneous accounts of Lincoln discoursing on the works of Shakespeare. In particular, I would recommend the elevated discussion on Shakespeare that took place at the White House between President Lincoln and a celebrated actor of the time, John McDonough. (Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln by Distinguished Men of His Time, Collected and Edited by Allen Thorndike Rice (1888), Chap. XIV - Representative William D. Kelley, pages 263-270.)

The introduction of this section III of the chapter reads as follows:

"There were persons who knew of Mr. Lincoln but as a story-teller, and believed him to be devoted to intercourse with men who enjoyed hearing and knew how to tell mirth-provoking stories. Of this class was my friend, the late John McDonough, a celebrated actor, who was an intensely partisan Democrat, and had accepted the theory that Mr. Lincoln a mere buffoon, whose official duties were performed by his Cabinet. I may without injustice to the memory of a valued friend make this statement, for after the incident to which I am about to refer he made the utmost atonement for any injustice he might have done Mr. Lincoln."

And, the index to F.B. Carpenter's book "The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln, Six Months at the White House" (1879) contains four references to "Shakespeare" at pages 49, 115, 150, and 162.

The first entry runs from pages 49 to 52 and ends with this paragraph:

"Then, unconsciously assuming the character, Mr. Lincoln repeated, also from memory, Richard's soliloquy, rendering it with a degree of force and power that made it seem like a new creation to me. Though familiar with the passage from boyhood, I can truly say that never till that moment had I fully appreciated its spirit. I could not refrain form laying down my palette and brushes, and applauding heartily, upon his conclusion, saying, at the same time, half in earnest, that I was not sure but that he had made a mistake in the choice of a profession, considerably, as may be imagined, to his amusement. Mr. Sinclair has since repeatedly said to me that he never heard these choice passages of Shakespeare rendered with more effect by the most famous of modern actors."

There must be other highly-regarded books on Lincoln that also contain references to Shakespeare and will serve as sources of additional material on the subject.