An Amusing 50-year-old Anecdote

[Rob Wick]

The very first Tarbell-authored book on Lincoln was published in 1896 and was called THE EARLY LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. It was simply a reprint of the McClure's Magazine articles from 1895 and 1896, using the same plates that the magazine did. Tarbell's THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN wasn't published until 1900 (her series didn't end in McClure's until 1899). It was published by Doubleday and McClure and even though the first copyright date is 1895, that was due to the series on which the book was based, not the book's original publication date.

Tarbell, from 1909 to 1911, was involved in a protracted series of negotiations with the McClure Company over the subscription rights to her LIFE OF LINCOLN, which was very lucrative to both McClure and the Lincoln History Society, but which Tarbell received nothing.

Best
Rob