Four score and seven years ago . . .Are any six words better known, of greater import, or from a more crucial moment in America's history? And yet after 150 years the dramatic and surprising story of how Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address has never been fully told. Until now. Martin Johnson's remarkable work of historical and literary detection illuminates a speech, a man, and a moment in history that we thought we knew. Johnson guides readers on Lincoln's emotional and intellectual journey to the speaker's platform, ...
Read More
Four score and seven years ago . . .Are any six words better known, of greater import, or from a more crucial moment in America's history? And yet after 150 years the dramatic and surprising story of how Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address has never been fully told. Until now. Martin Johnson's remarkable work of historical and literary detection illuminates a speech, a man, and a moment in history that we thought we knew. Johnson guides readers on Lincoln's emotional and intellectual journey to the speaker's platform, revealing that Lincoln himself experienced writing the Gettysburg Address as an eventful process that was filled with the possibility of failure, but which he knew resulted finally in success beyond expectation. We listen as Lincoln talks with the cemetery designer about the ideals and aspirations behind the unprecedented cemetery project, look over Lincoln's shoulder as he rethinks and rewrites his speech on the very morning of the ceremony, and share his anxiety that he might not live up to the occasion. And then, at last, we stand with Lincoln at Gettysburg, when he created the words and image of an enduring and authentic legend. Writing the Gettysburg Address resolves the puzzles and problems that have shrouded the composition of Lincoln's most admired speech in mystery for fifteen decades. Johnson shows when Lincoln first started his speech, reveals the state of the document Lincoln brought to Gettysburg, traces the origin of the false story that Lincoln wrote his speech on the train, identifies the manuscript Lincoln held while speaking, and presents a new method for deciding what Lincoln's audience actually heard him say. Ultimately, Johnson shows that the Gettysburg Address was a speech that grew and changed with each step of Lincoln's eventful journey to the podium. His two-minute speech made the battlefield and the cemetery into landmarks of the American imagination, but it was Lincoln's own journey to Gettysburg that made the Gettysburg Address.
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very Good. Very Good Dust Jacket. 1st Printing. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 322 pp. Tightly bound. Corners not bumped. Text is free of markings. Very good dust jacket. Jacket not price clipped. First Edition / First Printing. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. PLEASE NOTE: This is a very clean EX-LIBRARY COPY. There are no call numbers on the spine of the book. There are no call numbers on the spine of the jacket. There are no stamps on the page edges. There is no check-out pocket at the back of the book. There is a small neat library name and withdrawn stamp on the front end paper along with a date.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket.