i venture to say that among our public men there is not one whose life can be studied with more interest and profit by american youth than that of abraham lincoln. it is not alone that, born in an humble cabin, he reached the highest position accessible to an american, but especially because in every position which he was called upon to fill, he did his duty as he understood it, and freely sacrificed personal ease and comfort in the service of the humblest. i have prepared the story of lincoln’s boyhood and manhood as a companion volume to the life of garfield, which i published two years since, under the title, “from canal boy to president.” the cordial welcome which this received has encouraged me to persevere in my plan of furnishing readers, young and old, with readable lives of the greatest{6} and best men in our history. i can hardly hope at this late day to have contributed many new facts, or found much new material. i have been able, however, through the kindness of friends, to include some anecdotes not hitherto published. but for the most part i have relied upon the well-known and valuable lives of lincoln by dr. holland and ward h. lamon. i also acknowledge, with pleasure, my indebtedness to “six months in the white house,” by f. b. carpenter; henry j. raymond’s “history of lincoln’s administration,” and the “life of lincoln,” by d. w. bartlett. i commend, with confidence, either or all of these works to those of my readers who may desire a more thorough and exhaustive life of “the backwoods boy.”

horatio alger, jr.

new york, july 4, 1883.