A. Lincoln -- Attorney at Law DVD

[Tom Emery]

Last night, I watched a DVD on Lincoln's law career that left an positive impression on me.

It's entitled A. Lincoln: Attorney at Law, and was released in 2006. It was a joint effort of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Illinois Judges Association.

It's fairly brief -- 40 to 45 minutes or so -- and had some high-profile commentators, including Harold Holzer. It had attractive camera shots and angles, and was easy to watch.

The DVD also discusses Lincoln's personal life, his melancholy, and his relationship with Herndon. The focus, though, is on Lincoln's legal practice in Illinois, with an emphasis on Christian County (Taylorville).

There were a couple of glitches (it stated that the Lincolns were married in 1841; it was actually 1842), and some of the commentary from John Simon was mediocre, but overall, it was very well done.

I liked it and thought it was well worth watching, and if anyone else out there has seen it, I'm wondering what you may have thought of it.

[RJNorton]

Tom, I did not see it, but from what I can tell, Lincoln's character shines through in much of his legal work. One example of what I mean is there came a time when Herndon filed a plea that was not in accord with known facts. Lincoln told him, "Hadn't we better withdraw that plea? You know it's a sham, and a sham is very often but another name for a lie. Don't let it go on record. The cursed thing may come staring us in the face long after this suit has been forgotten."

The Fehrenbachers give this quote a "C" because it was recorded noncontemporaneously, but I think it sounds just like something Lincoln would say.

[Joe Di Cola]

Oddly enough, I saw the production on an obscure Arizona public TV station located in the AZ boonies (I was residing there at that time) and, aside from a few glitches (including a shot of Lincoln leaving his "home"--a building that didn't even remotely resemble the real thing) it was well done. I have not checked this out, but it might be available from the public TV station out of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana which, I believe, was part of the group that produced it.

[Tom Emery]

Roger, you're right on the character of Lincoln, and that receives great emphasis in this DVD. While it devotes ample time to his legal work, and gives good examples, it also examines Lincoln's personality, and in interesting fashion.

Joe's right on the glitches; there are some, to be sure. But, as Joe also says, it is well done, and I think adds something positive to Lincoln media.

[LincolnMan]

I looked for the DVD on Amazon-thought I might get lucky-I didn't.

[My Name Is Kate]

Here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Attorney-a...B001DX8RCQ

And here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/A-Lincoln-Attorn...5d3b917b8c

[LincolnMan]

LOL. Now I know I'm getting old! Or as my grandma used to say: "If it was a snake, it would have bit ya."

[Joe Di Cola]

I checked my facts, and the program I was referring to in my previous post was LINCOLN: PRELUDE TO THE PRESIDENCY produced by WILL-TV (public tv station out of champaign-urbana), and aired at the time of Lincoln's 200th birthday celebration in 2009. It is available on DVD for $24.95. I highly recommend this one, even with its few glitches.