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Manuscript/Mixed Material Page of Abraham Lincoln's student sum book, ca. 1824-26.

About this Item

Title

  • Page of Abraham Lincoln's student sum book, ca. 1824-26.

Created / Published

  • ca. 1824-26

Headings

  • -  Education
  • -  Presidents
  • -  Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865)
  • -  Herndon, William Henry (1818-1891)
  • -  Lincoln, Sarah Bush Johnston (1788-1869)
  • -  Mathematics
  • -  Manuscripts

Genre

  • Manuscripts

Notes

  • -  Reproduction number: A48 (color slide; front); A49 (color slide; verso); LC-MSS-25791-2 (B&W negatives; front and verso)
  • -  In his autobiography, President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) claimed that the aggregate of all his formal schooling did not amount to one year. His teachers in the pioneer schools of Indiana probably did not have access to an arithmetic textbook, using instead the mathematical problems found in handbooks such as Thomas Dilworth's Schoolmaster's Assistant. Paper was also scarce, and students often did their calculations (or ciphers) on boards, which they could shave clean and reuse. Lincoln, however, apparently managed to acquire a few sheets of paper that he sewed together to form a small mathematical notebook.
  • -  The self-made notebook was given to Lincoln's law partner and biographer William H. Herndon (1818-1891) by the president's stepmother Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln (1788-1869). The sheets were subsequently dispersed, and the whereabouts of some pages are unknown. The Library of Congress acquired the two pages (one leaf) exhibited here as part of its Herndon-Weik Collection of Lincolniana. They are considered the earliest extant Lincoln manuscripts and are especially noteworthy because of the signature contained in the verse in the lower left-hand corner: Abraham Lincoln / his hand and pen / he will be good but / [god] knows When

Source Collection

  • Herndon-Weik Collection of Lincolniana

Repository

  • Manuscript Division

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress's digital scans of the Herndon-Weik Collection of Lincolniana are in the public domain.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Herndon-Weik Collection of Lincolniana.

More about Copyright and other Restrictions.

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Page of Abraham Lincoln's student sum book, -26. -26, 1824. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mcc.022/.

APA citation style:

(1824) Page of Abraham Lincoln's student sum book, -26. -26. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mcc.022/.

MLA citation style:

Page of Abraham Lincoln's student sum book, -26. -26, 1824. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/mcc.022/>.