Herndon on Lincoln

[Rob Wick]

Roger,

In their preface, Wilson and Davis write "While The Hidden Lincoln performed a valuable service in making Lincoln students aware of a great many revealing documents, it is no secret that its editor struggled with the challenge of deciphering Herndon's often difficult handwriting and was insufficiently versed in the details of Lincoln's life."

Also, they point out something I was unaware of. "A less recognized problem is Hertz's failure to maintain the leaves of the assembled manuscripts in their correct order, with the result that the texts of different letters are sometimes intermingled. For example, a letter to Herndon's collaborator, Jesse W. Weik, dated January 15, 1889, several months prior to the publication of their biography, includes reference to expected prepublicaton activity such as preparing an index, but it also contains references to postpublication concerns about the distribution of profits, and concludes with references to the high rate of sales and to the overall character of the reviews. Not surprisingly, Hertz's text of this letter proves to be an amalgamation of four pages from three different letters: the first page from January 1889, the second and third from July 1890, and the fourth from December 1889."

Finally, they write "Perhaps because Hertz proclaimed in his introduction, 'Here at last is Herndon's complete evidence,' the idea took root among scholars and other students of LIncoln that The Hidden Lincoln had pretty well exhausted the field. When complete, the contents of Herndon on Lincoln, especially when combined with that of Herndon's Informants, will demonstrate the magnitude of Hertz's miscalculation."

Best
Rob