Herndon’s Informants: Letters, Interviews, and Statements about Abraham Lincoln

Winner of the Abraham Lincoln Institute Book Award

Women to whom Lincoln proposed marriage, political allies and adversaries, judges and fellow attorneys, longtime comrades, erstwhile friends–all speak out here in words first gathered by William H. Herndon, Lincoln’s law partner, between 1865 and 1890. Historian David Herbert Donald has called Herndon’s materials the basic source for Abraham Lincoln’s early years.

Now available in paperback, Herndon’s Informants collects and annotates more than 600 letters and interviews providing information about Abraham Lincoln’s prepolitical and prelegal careers. Some of the people Herndon questioned were illiterate. Others could read but barely write. The editors’ undertaking took them to three major collections for the mammoth task of transcribing aged documents that often were barely legible.

A priceless resource for scholars and anyone curious about Lincoln and his times, Herndon’s Informants includes an introduction, scholarly annotations, a registry of the informants, and a detailed topical index.