"In 1838, famed American author Washington Irving published this one-volume collection of poems, essays, plays, and letters by Irish novelist, playwright, and poet Oliver Goldsmith from a larger four-volume collection published in Paris in 1825. Irving went on to write a biography of Goldsmith in 1849.
Abraham Lincoln’s brother-in-law Ninian W. Edwards presented this volume to Lincoln, who signed it with the inscription:
"A. Lincoln—
Presented by his friend, N. W. Edwards" (“N. W. Edwards” was later stricken with ink.)
Before leaving Springfield for the Presidency, Lincoln gave this volume to his third and last law partner and biographer William H. Herndon."