Abraham Lincoln: Ideal, Idol, and Icon

Abraham Lincoln: Ideal, Idol, and Icon

The year 2009 will bring special attention to Abraham Lincoln, both at
home and abroad. This attention, stoked by the bicentennial of the
president’s birth, will reach new heights over the next 18 months, but
it’s not a new phenomenon itself. Only Jesus of Nazareth and perhaps
William Shakespeare exceed Lincoln as the subjects of published books,
with the next most popular personage---French emperor Napoleon
Bonaparte---trailing distantly behind.

Smithsonian magazine has recently run some very interesting
articles on our sixteenth president. In the October 2008 issue, Theodore
C. Sorensen---who helped John F. Kennedy craft his inaugural
address---says, “Of all of the U.S. presidents, Lincoln had the best
speechwriter---himself.”

For numismatists, Lincoln is a unique figure, having appeared in total on
more coins (billions of one-cent pieces) and paper money (billions of $5
bills) than any other person in history. In addition he appears on
various world coins, countless tokens and medals, and, for philatelists,
U.S. and foreign postage stamps. In 2009 the U.S. Mint will release four
new reverse designs for the Lincoln cent, representing different phases
in his life, as well as a commemorative silver dollar. In 2010 it will be
Lincoln’s turn on a Presidential golden dollar. Undoubtedly it will be
the most popular of the series, saved by millions of collectors
worldwide.

Here at Whitman Publishing we’ve created new “frosty cases” and a new
commemorative folder for collecting and displaying the 2009 Lincoln
Bicentennial cents. You can read about them in The Whitman Review.

Later this year a new book will debut, by award-winning author and
numismatic researcher Fred Reed. Abraham Lincoln: The Image of His
Greatness is a remarkable creation. Harold Holzer, of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art (and cochairman of the United States Abraham
Lincoln Bicentennial Commission), calls it “interesting and compelling,”
saying that “Reed’s commentary and the arrangement and choice of imagery
make Abraham Lincoln: The Image of His Greatness a very worthwhile
and elegant project.” Dr. Thomas Turner, longtime editor-in-chief of the
Lincoln Herald (the oldest continuously published journal devoted
to the life and career of Abraham Lincoln), calls it “a unique study”
that “makes a significant contribution to the field.”

Reed draws on his own unparalleled collection of Lincoln numismatic items,
illustrating the book with hundreds of full-color images sure to delight the
collector and historian. These are joined by engravings and daguerreotypes,
old film stills, a never-before-published oil painting, magazine covers, political
cartoons, and a host of other images. They are poignant, provocative,
profound, sometimes puzzling; individually fascinating and collectively
illuminating.



Dr. Turner, in the book’s foreword, muses on the potential for Abraham
Lincoln: The Image of His Greatness to bridge the gap between
mainstream historical study and numismatics:


“American historians may conclude, like our colleagues in other fields,
that while we have learned a great deal about Lincoln from manuscript
sources, there are other ways of approaching our 16th president. If Fred
Reed’s book moves the study of currency and other images away from the
realm of specialists and makes it more available to mainstream Lincoln
studies, then his book will provide a definite service.”


Whether you’re a student of Civil War history, a collector of Lincoln
memorabilia, or an enthusiast of American popular media, Abraham Lincoln:
The Image of His Greatness is sure to delight you and make you think. The
book will be available this holiday season. Watch the pages of the
Whitman Review for updates.