One you might have missed...

[Rob Wick]

I would imagine before this is all over with, most of you will be tired of my references to Ida Tarbell, but I noticed she wrote a letter of encouragement to a man named Yaichi Akiyama, a Japanese citizen who wrote a book called The Great Man Lincoln, which was published in 1933.

The only reference to it I can find is in The Global Lincoln which came out last year and was edited by Richard Carwardine and Jay Sexton. In "A Standard of Our Thought and Action Lincoln's Reception in East Asia," by De-min Tao, Tao writes "Given the very high rate of compulsory elementary school attendance during this time in Japan (95 percent in 1905), a whole generation of Japanese effectively grew up with Lincoln as a foreign, yet familiar, role model, alongside more traditional figures from Japanese and Chinese histories. For instance, Yaichi Akiyama, another Japanese Lincoln biographer, recalled in The Great Man Lincoln: "When I was a fourth grade pupil, I studied Lincoln's story for the first time through the textbook for moral education, which left a dramatic impression on my mind."

In her letter, Tarbell wrote "Naturally I was gratified by your letter. It is always a satisfaction to me when I find that my "Life of Lincoln" has been useful to a serious student, particularly a student in another country."

Has anyone ever seen a copy of this book? According to WorldCat, the only copy available in America is at the University of Iowa, I imagine, in the Bollinger collection.

Best
Rob