02/12/2021
Today is Abe Lincoln's birthday, the 16th President of the United States. President Lincoln was a deeply interesting man. He was a husband, father, soldier, lawyer, politician, friend, enthusiastic home cook, and president from 1861-1865. Lincoln was famously shot during a performance at Ford's Theatre here in Washington DC, and passed in the early hours of April 15, 1865. He was the first president to be assassinated.
During the intense period of national mourning that followed, poet Walt Whitman wrote "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd". This poem is the first in this tiny book. The book, "Memories of President Lincoln" by Whitman is a collection of poems published in a tiny format. The books were produced by the Little Leather Library, which published 30 works of great literature in pocket-sized editions designed for soldiers to take into the field during WWI. This one little book was published in 1921, when Little Leather Library books were published and sold by mail to the public.
While these little books are not wildly valuable for resale, they do offer us a pocket-sized glimpse into the memory and mourning of a beloved American president in the incomparable voice of a beloved American poet.
