Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln

[Gene C]

written by Francis Bicknell Carpenter and originally published in 1866 as Inner Life of Abrahan Lincoln - Six Months At The White House,. It has about 350 pages, easy to read, good sized print, short chapters,

Very interesting book. Mr. Carpenter was the artist who painted the large picture (108" x 108") of the "First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Read...mation.jpg

For me, there were two points that make this work special.
First, Mr. Carpenter was in the White House on a regular basis for about six months in 1864 and was able to see the daily routine of the President. He was able to see Lincoln in business and somewhat private situations.
Second, his book was first published in 1866, the memories he recorded are fresh and not dimmed by the passage of time.

Many of the incidents he writes about have been repeated in other books, much of the book was familiar to me. There was one story he mentions about Mrs. Lincoln that was new to me, and knowing a little about how outspoken she could be, it is easy to imagine.

"The second week in July the whole country, and Washington in particular, was thrown into a fever of anxiety by the rebel raid upon that city under Early and Breckinridge. The night of Sunday, the 10th,
I have always believed the city might have been captured had the enemy followed up his advantage....
At the White House the cannonading at Fort Stevens was distinctly heard throughout the day. During Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, the
President visited the forts and outworks, part of the time accompanied by Mrs. Lincoln. While at Fort Stevens on Monday, both were imprudently exposed,
— rifle - balls coming, in several instances, alarmingly near.

Subsequently the rebel force returned to Richmond almost unharmed. I saw no one who appeared to take this more to heart than Mrs. Lincoln, who was inclined to lay the responsibility at the door of the Secretary of War. Two or three weeks later, when tranquillity was
perfectly restored, it was said that Stanton called upon the President and Mrs. Lincoln one evening at the " Soldiers' Home." In the course of conversation the Secretary said, playfully,
"Mrs. Lincoln, I intend to have a full-length portrait of you painted, standing on the ramparts at Fort Stevens overlooking the fight !

" That is very well," returned Mrs. Lincoln, very promptly ; and I can assure you of one thing, Mr. Secretary, if I had had a few ladies with me the Rebels would not have been permitted to get away as they did!"

Included in the book is a speech, about 25 pages, made by William Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, given in December of 1865. From that speech you can see how Herndon believes he has a special insight into Lincoln's thoughts and feelings, and that he understands Lincoln better than anyone else, maybe even better that Lincoln understood himself. At times he seems to contradict himself in explaining Lincoln's personality. This is an interesting subject in itself.

The book has it's shortcomings, pointed out in the introduction, but it is well worth reading, and owning. It is available on Internet Archives, https://archive.org/details/innerlifeofa...rp/page/n7
or can be purchased for a very reasonable price, check around, prices vary a lot. This is the copy I have.
https://www.amazon.com/Inner-Life-Abraha...am+Lincoln