LIFE magazine's new Lincoln book!

[LincolnToddFan]

I just received it in the mail Tuesday. YOWZAH! for lack of a more elegant word. It's called "Lincoln: An Intimate Portrait" and it is meant to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the assassination.

First of all it is huge, people. I knew it would be a large book but you'd better take your vitamins before attempting to lug it around. It's a hard cover book with about 250 pages of some of the most incredible Lincoln/Civil War era photographs I have ever seen...and in fact many of them I have never seen before.

There are written essay contributions from every end of the political spectrum...former President Bush(the first one) to Andrew Young and many in between. Most of them were deeply moving and inspirational. Several of them brought me close to tears. The overall feel of the commemoration is respectful and thoughtful, with little of the hagiography that always makes me uncomfortable even when reading about people I admire.

I thought I would not be able to afford it when I first heard about it on another board, but I grabbed a copy on Amazon for about $25. So happy I did. LIFE magazine and it's contributing editors have really outdone themselves with this one...majestic and beautiful and intimate all at once.