Help Needed

[L Verge]

Several weeks ago, Surratt House received a donation of several books from the estate of the late-author Gordon Samples (Lust for Fame). Most of them are used books that were obviously bought by Mr. Samples as used books. Some of them have already made it to our Used Book table in our gift shop.

One was something new to me, however, and before I slap a price tag on it and stick on the table, I would like some advice. It is a thin (131 pages), but over-sized book entitled Meet Mr. Lincoln. It was published in 1960 by NBC, obviously as a companion piece to a Project Twenty (?) broadcast event for the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth (1959). The program was sponsored by the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company. The creators/editors are Donald B. Hyatt and Richard Hanser.

Does anyone know anything about the NBC program and/or this accompanying book? Excellent array of photos with minimal text that is obviously taken from the audio portion of the television show. I think this is something that Richard Sloan might know about, so I hope he will respond here so that all can get educated.

The Foreword of the book is a well-done tribute to Mr. Lincoln. It's a little long, but I am going to post it separately under the Legacy thread.

[Gene C]

Could this be it?

http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Richard-Hy...r.+Lincoln

Any books that might be of interest to your adoring fans out here in cyber space?

[L Verge]

Thanks, Gene, that is indeed the same book only reprinted by another company 36 years later. I suspect the format may be somewhat different and even perhaps the text, however. This older book is definitely text from a documentary (albeit short and sweet), and I would not classify it as a true children's book.

Most are in pretty bad condition - including a first edition (1893) of William Winter's biography of Edwin Booth. It appears to have been wrapped in cut velvet at some point, which adhered to the cover (really did a number on the spine, and the front cover has a unique strip of the velvet intact). The first few pages are loose, but otherwise fairly good - especially the photos. I have actually contacted Tudor Hall, however, to see if they would like to have it gratis.

Another goody is the second edition of Nettie Mudd's book in which I found the newspaper clipping about the Ft. Jefferson Mudd plaque that I posted about yesterday. It is in good condition, but it felt like it needed a Mudd home. I offered it gratis to Bob Summers of this forum, and I think his sister, a great-granddaughter of Dr. Sam will be receiving it.

The most frustrating one is a limited edition (maybe first edition?) of Ferguson's I Saw Booth Shoot Lincoln. Badly stained, faded pages, and very unusual blank pages spread throughout. I can't bear to throw it in the recycle bin, so I guess I will give it a proper burial on my office bookcase for the moment. My carpenters are actually building me a new and sturdier bookcase because they are tired of seeing the sagging shelves on my KMart special...

Stay tuned, however, because we will soon be receiving a very generous supply of books on the Civil War in general with a few assassination ones, courtesy of the widow of one of our state politicians.