Evening star., 1947-10-12

Every year brings its quota of Lin
coin books. but in 1947, for reasons
fairly obvious to every one, all rec
ords are being broken, and the end
is not yet. Mr.. Edward Wagon
knecht, who can write for either an
academic or a popular audience, and
has 20 years of literary experience
behind him, has had the thought of
putting together comprehensive
anthology of every form of literary
expression which the life of Lincoln
has evoked.from history and biog-
raphy to drama and poetry. No
one can complain that, in these $50
packed pages at a very reasonable
price, he has not been given a lot
for his money.
Such a collection must suffer- how
ever, by comparison with DR.. Paul
Angles unique Lincoln Reader" 4"
constructed as it was from an init
mate and unequaled knowledge of
the biographical literature, first and
secondhand alike. Mr.. Wagen-
knecht seeks to disarm comparison
by pointing out that DR.. Angles
unprecedented and completely sue
cessful piece of dovetailing is a
composite biography" rather than
an anthology, but the fact remains
that any who are primarily in search
of fact will be far better served by
the reader" with its greatly wider
coverage of authorities and episodes.
The present collection has a fur
ther disqualification: "The Years of
Fower"-i.e., the presidency and the
Civil WARFARE covered by only three
factual selections, and two of them
are of a decidedly "revisionist' char
acter. While professors continue to
exist, they will also revise. and their
results are, of course, entitled to a
hearing. But in a book largely de-
voted to imaginative hagiography, it
is curious proceeding to give the
center of the political stage to
writer's who represent the hero as
confused, Intellectual and misguided.
For, after all, if there was no genuine
craftsmanship at the helm in 1861
1865, the sentimental interest in the
other aspects of Lincoln's life must
speedily wither and die.
Fact and Fiction.
Most readers will agree with the
reviewer that the primary interest
of the anthology lies in its assembly
of the fictions which literary folk
have woven about the theme of
Lincoln's life and death. But in story
and the drama the question of fact
still will not down. The person who
can most enjoy other peoples i'm
aginations about Lincoln is, unfor-
tunately, the person who knows least
about Lincoln. After all, when the
diary Lincoln did not keep has been
been reconstructed by the immense
labors of three several scholars, he is
a man known far beyond the aver
age of great historic figures. Mr..
Wagenknecht, we are glad to note,
has excluded THE Perfect Tribute" Z"
which has misled two generations of
school children about the Gettysburg
address. Writers are perhaps on
safer ground when they introduce
their historic flgure-in this case
Lincoln-as a mere passer-by in
other peoples experience, but even
here he is onlv too likelv tn omit
a sentence from some famous state
paper, or ostentatiously call atten-
ton to some other familiar biograph-
ical detail The late John Buchan's
End of the Road" is remarkably
consistent, but why must he rep
resent the man who produced the
greatest political eloquence in the
English language as talking like a
yokel, albeit a very clever yokel?