The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln

New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1953. Hardcover. Complete 9-volume set. 8vo.Grey cloth with gilt spine lettering. Various paginations. Fine. Attractive, tight 1962 "History Book Club" edition, with interesting autograph addition: Tipped opposite first volume title page is a Typed Letter Signed from editor Basler, 1p, 8" X 10½", n.p., 27 December 1984. Addressed to Ralph G. Newman (1912-98, founder of Chicago's noted Abraham Lincoln Book Shop). Very good. Probably writing from Sarasota, Florida, where he retired in 1974, Basler tells his old friend "I am mailing separately... a copy of my revised manuscript. The computer printer tells me it is twenty five percent less than the first draft. In addition to cutting out, I have used your other suggestions to good advantage -- the Afterword particularly...." Signed simply "Roy" in black ballpoint. Intriguing and the mystery of what this manuscript is remains unclear. Given Newman's involvement it almost certainly concerned Lincoln, but possibly it was never published. Basler (1906-89) was an American historian and for many years chief of the manuscript division at the Library of Congress; he edited the "Collected Works" in his capacity as editor-in-chief of the Abraham Lincoln Association (1947-52) and this set is by far his best known contribution to Lincolniana.