A Few Appropriate Remarks

Better to Give than to Receive

With Thanksgiving weekend coming to a close and the Christmas decorations making their annual debut, I thought it'd be a great time to take in this story:

A primary and intermediate school was so located as to be separated by a fence from the rear of the White House grounds. The President often watched the children play. One morning, the teacher gave them a lesson in neatness, and asked each boy to come to school next day with his shoes blacked. They all obeyed. One of them, John S., a poor one-armed lad, had used stove polish, the only kind his home afforded. The boys were merciless in their ridicule. The boy was only nine years old, the son of a dead soldier, his mother a washerwoman, with three other children to provide for. The President heard the boys jeering Johnny, and learned the facts about the boy.

The next day John S. came to school with a new suit and with new shoes, and told that the President had called at his home and took him to the store and bought two suits of clothes for him and clothes for his sisters, and sent coal and groceries to the house. In addition to this the lad brought to the teacher a scrap of paper containing a verse of Scripture, which Mr. Lincoln had requested to have written upon the blackboard:

"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Some weeks after the President visited the school, and the teacher directed his attention to the verse, which was still there. Mr. Lincoln read it; then, taking a crayon, said: "Boys, I have another quotation from the Bible, and I hope you will learn it and come to know its truth as I have known and felt it." Then below the other verse he wrote:

"It is more blessed to give than to receive.
                             A. Lincoln"

from: Jackson, S. Trevena. Lincoln's Use of the Bible, New York: The Abingdon Press, 1909, pp. 29-30.

Abraham Lincoln Speaks Binary

I love it when you talk ones and zeros. So dreamy!

Go to the Code for America Lincoln page to easily copy the binary into your clipboard, then paste it into this binary to text translator. Take a guess first before you translate it. Were you right?

Lincoln Cent on Dime Double Denomination

The US Mint occasionally strikes a coin that does not follow the route into general circulation but instead gets routed back into the strike of a different denomination. The result is always weird and sometimes beautiful--"striking," even!

Such is the case of two Lincoln cents struck on Roosevelt dimes on eBay. One is still for sale; the other just sold via auction.

This 1993 P penny-dime started as a dime before it was double-struck as a Lincoln cent. It is a Mint error that is graded MS 67 by NGC. The oak branch and torch on the back of the dime are evident on Abraham Lincoln's head and beard.

Turning the Lincoln Memorial on its side makes it easier to see the silhouette of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

see original eBay listing

It is listed for $1195 or best offer by eBay seller dempseyandbaxter.

On Valentine's Day, a gorgeous 1990 P Lincoln penny strike on a dime sold via eBay auction for $857.98. The listing by sullivannumismatics started for 99 cents and attracted 23 bids from 14 bidders. This 1990 Lincoln cent on a Roosevelt dim was graded an MS 64 by PCGS.

Like the 1993 MS 67 double-denomination coin, the back of the dime is evident on Lincoln's face. Here, the oak branch and the olive branch can be seen.

And once again turning the Lincoln Memorial on its side, it's easy to see Roosevelt's silhouette.

see original eBay listing

The grade and the picture of the first coin make it obvious that the strike is much better on that coin than on the second. However, the leaves on Abraham Lincoln's face in the second double-denomination coin make that coin quite beautiful.

Library of Congress Lincoln Exhibit to Start Traveling This Summer

The Library of Congress has a new exhibit featuring eighteen seldom-seen documents related to Abraham Lincoln. These are on loan from the Benjamin Shapell Family Manuscript Foundation. It's the first time that so much of its Lincoln collection has been publicly displayed in one place. "With Malice Toward None: The National Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition" opened on February 12, 2009.

The News Tribune describes the exhibit as "a landmark exhibit of letters, photographs, documents, and artifacts." This includes two handwritten passages from Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address delivered on March 4, 1865, one from the beginning of the address and the other from the end. The famous "with malice toward none" ending, of course, is the line from which the exhibit gets its name.

"Also on exhibit will be the first ever public pairing of 11-year old Grace Bedell's letter to Lincoln suggesting that he grow a beard, and Lincoln's reply just four days later; Lincoln's humble acceptance of the 1860 presidential nomination; and his famous condolence letter to Miss Fanny McCullough on the death of her father at the battle of Fredericksburg."

"With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition" runs through May 9, 2009, at the Library of Congress. This summer, it travels to just four cities across the U.S.

I'll be headed to Sacramento to see the exhibit at the California Museum (June 24 through August 22, 2009).

After leaving Sacramento, the exhibit will travel to:

• Newberry Library in Chicago (Fall 2009)
• Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis (Winter/Spring 2010), new home of much of the collection from the Lincoln Museum formerly in Ft. Wayne, Indiana
• Atlanta History Center in Atlanta (September 2010)
• Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha (Winter 2011)

Just 20 Bucks for Allen Guelzo's Course on Lincoln

Six hours of lectures about Abraham Lincoln by noted Lincoln scholar Professor Allen C. Guelzo can be yours for $20. Dr. Guelzo is a professor at Gettysburg College, and a guest lecturer for the Teaching Company. On sale through April: "Mr. Lincoln: The Life of Abraham Lincoln."

The Teaching Company brings engaging professors into your home or car through courses on DVD, audio CD, and other formats. Since 1990, great teachers from the Ivy League, Stanford, Georgetown, and other leading colleges and universities have crafted over 200 courses.

Ordinarily, the Teaching Company lectures are expensive: most will cost you a few Benjamins. But the audio download version of Allen C. Guelzo presenting 12 lectures on the life of Lincoln will set you back just a few Lincolns.

From the web site description:

In addition to asking what it was like to know Lincoln, Professor Guelzo explores three themes:

• What ideas were at the core of his understanding of American politics?
• Why did he oppose slavery, and what propelled him, in the 1850s, into the open opposition to slavery that led to his election to the presidency in 1860?
• What particular gifts equipped Lincoln to lead the nation through the "fiery trial" of the Civil War?

The mechanism for downloading the MP3 files is kind of clunky, but it does work. The hassle factor is well offset by the quality of the course and the bargain price.

Marvel Comics: Gettysburg Distress

Marvel Comics released a free digital comic book on President's Day called Gettysburg Distress. Click the "Open" graphic on the Marvel site to view the comic.

In this short bit of a booklet, Captain America tells Spider-Man how he traveled back in time to witness Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

This isn't available as a download, but the Marvel comic viewer works pretty well. Every now and then, it may ask you to sign up. But this comic is free, so no need to sign up. Just refresh the page and all should be well again.

Lincoln White House Dishes

A plate from the original White House dishes purchased by Mary Lincoln and used in the Lincoln Administration recently sold at Cowan's Auctions in Cincinnati for $14,100. The Hartford Courant reports (February 20, 2009) the plate brought in a handsome price even though it was chipped. Authentic White House plates usually bring $4,000 to $6,000.

The pattern was from E.V. Haughwout and Company, modified by Mary, who changed the border from blue to the fashion rage of the period: a purple-red color called "solferino."

The same pattern was ordered several times in later years when new dishes were needed. The Hartford Courant says this is why some of the dishes are unmarked, some are marked "Fabrique par Haviland & Co. pour J.W. Boteler & Bro., Washington," and some are marked "Theo Haviland, Limoges, France, J.W. Boteler & Son, Washington, D. C."

Economist Runs Articles from 1860s

The Economist magazine is running a series of archived articles in celebration of Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial birthday.

Three articles cover President-Elect Lincoln (November 1860), the assassination of the president (April 1865), and a look-back of the president (July 1865).

(Thanks to Ninad for pointing me to these great pieces.)

Lincoln Musical Celebration in Ft. Wayne, Feb 8

If you're in the Ft. Wayne, Indiana area, you may want to check out "Heartland Sings: A Lincoln Celebration."

It's a multimedia program features songs, marches, and dances that were popular in the 1860s. Sunday, February 8, 2009, at the Arts United Center in Ft. Wayne. General admission is $19.

Lincoln: FREE Smithsonian Online Conference Feb 4 & 5

The Smithsonian's free online conference covering various aspects of the study of Abraham Lincoln is right around the corner. I blogged about it last December, and finally it is here.

February 4 and 5. Starts at 10am Eastern. I'm Pacific: "Lincoln" is just about the only thing that would get me out of my warm and cozy bed at 7am. Is it even light outside then?!

Here's how the Smithsonian describes the conference:

Throughout the days of February 4 and 5, 2009, you’ll explore Smithsonian research and collections related to Lincoln’s life – everything from portraits and diaries to documents and historical artifacts. Alongside Smithsonian curators, you’ll look at Lincoln’s life and legacy from the perspectives of history, science, and art.

Check out the conference sessions and join us. Looks like just over 100 people have logged in early to introduce themselves. I'm sure there are even more lurkers in the discussion forums.