By the book trivia

[Rob Wick]

There have been a slew of biographies written about Abraham Lincoln. I am in the process of working on a book about one of the four that I call "The Four Horsemen," i.e., Ida Tarbell, Albert J. Beveridge, William E. Barton and, of course, Carl Sandburg.

However, this question is not about any of them. The question here is, who was the first academician to write a biography of Lincoln. It was not James G. Randall, by the way.

Best
Rob

[LincolnMan]

A writer wrote a biography of Lincoln in 1866 by the name of Holland. I don't know what his credentials were.

[Rob Wick]

Sorry Bill, but that's not it. Too early.

Best
Rob

[Rob Wick]

First clue.

Think 20th century.

Best
Rob

[LincolnMan]

How about Charnwood?

[Rob Wick]

Not the correct answer, Bill, but an interesting, and good, guess.

Godfrey Rathbone Benson is listed as a lecturer in philosophy at Balliol, but that is incidental to his biography of Lincoln. This person was an American academic.

Second clue. He taught at the College of Charleston when he wrote the book.

Best
Rob

[Joe Di Cola]

albert beveridge

[Rob Wick]

Sorry Joe, but that's not it.

While Beveridge worked to write a scholarly biography, and solicited the advice of scholars, he never was an academic.

Final clue:
The book was published by Bobbs Merrill in 1922. He wrote on several different aspects of the Civil War and also wrote an "autobiography" of Abraham Lincoln.

Best
Rob

[LincolnMan]

N. Stephenson? If it is correct- I thank M. Peterson who mentioned him in his Lincoln book.

[Joe Di Cola]

The only person I know of who published a book on A.L. with Bobbs-Merrill in the 1920s was Willaim E. Barton--THE SOUL OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, and another on Lincoln's paternity. Beveridge was considered a historian, bit I am guessing by "academic" you are referring to someone who worked as a professor at a college or university. I don't know enough about Barton's background, but is it he you are thinking of. I know that Louis Warren's publishers were other companies. This is a really good trivia item. Thanks for the challenge.

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Oh! The Lincoln Man is right! It is Nathaniel Stephenson--he was at Charleston!

[Rob Wick]

Bill got it right!

It was Nathaniel W. Stephenson and was called Lincoln: An Account of His Personal Life, Especially of Its Springs of Action as Revealed and Deepened by the Ordeal of War.

Good job, Bill!

Best
Rob

[Gene C]

This author wrote over 40 books, including 5 (over a 10 year period) about Abraham Lincoln. At the time, was considered one of the country's leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln. For the novels, was paid about $300 to $500 each.

Who is it?

[RJNorton]

Gene, you once mentioned Bernie Babcock in a post. My guess will be Bernie Babcock.

[Gene C]

You are right Roger.

A very interesting woman. Her husband died in 1898, leaving her at the age of 29, with 5 children. She turned to writing in an effort to support her family. Her fisrt published book in 1900, "The Daughter of the Republican", sold 100,000 copies in 6 months. Her early works were "temperance novels", describng the sufferings of alcohol consumption. In 1919, she wrote "The Soul of Ann Rutledge" her most successful litereary work, even traveling to California to visit with Ann Rutledge's younger sister for her research. Her books contained many references to God and the Bible and tended towards historical fiction.

In the 1920's and 30's she became heavily involved with the Arkansas Museum of Natural History. She retired as director of the museum in 1953 at the age of 85. In 1959 she published her first and only book of poetry. She passed away in 1962, at the age of 94. A neighbor found her sitting with a manuscript in her hand.

There is so much more to tell about her and a fair amount on the internet about her. She was a remarkable woman.

http://ualrexhibits.org/characters/for-t...babcock-3/

https://books.google.com/books?id=FWvZxu...ck&f=false