Carl Sandburg and Lincoln

[Rob Wick]

Bill,

Since I've not read all six volumes completely through (and I only used bits and pieces for papers I wrote in college) I can't sit here and give you a detailed response from the books (yet). However, the thing that comes to my mind first as a major mistake would be Sandburg's rush to accept Wilma Minor's letters as genuine, and making that claim in the newspapers.

Both Oliver Barrett and Paul Angle warned Sandburg that he was rushing to judgement but he didn't listen. Sandburg began to backtrack, though, and eventually admitted that he had been duped. His excuse, saying that he didn't do his hard-nosed research until later, was excessively lame. Sandburg wanted to believe that there were letters between Ann Rutledge and Lincoln and showed absolutely no critical sense at all.

Best
Rob