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Abraham Lincoln's Humorous Stories
Nothing that can be written about Lincoln can show his character in such a true light as the yarns and stories he was so fond of telling, and at which he would laugh as heartily as anyone. For a man whose life was so full of great responsibilities, Lincoln had many hours of laughter when the humorous, fun-loving side of his great nature asserted itself. While nearly all of Lincoln's stories have a humorous side, they also contain a moral, which every good story should have. They contain lessons that could be taught so well in no other way. Every one of them is a sermon. Lincoln, like the Man of Galilee, spoke to the people in parables. The parables, yarns, stories, anecdotes and sayings of the "Immortal Abe" deserve a place beside Aesop's Fables, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and all other books that have added to the happiness and wisdom of mankind. Lincoln's stories are like Lincoln himself. The more we know of them the better we like them.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1904
About the author
Alexander K. McClure
131 books1 followerAlexander Kelly McClure. Sometimes noted as A. K. McClure.
Co-founder and editor 1873-1901 of the Philadelphia Times.
Co-founder and editor 1873-1901 of the Philadelphia Times.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 11, 2017
This many pages of adulation and praise may be right for a very great man, but it can get to be much.
If you can imagine a memorial type book written by collecting the reminiscences of a great man's friends, put together in no order and absent any attribution or confirmation and you can imagine the contents of: Lincoln's Yarns and Stories: a complete collection of the funny and witty anecdotes that made Lincoln famous as America's greatest story teller [Kindle Edition].
Not every story is funny or witty. Many are sad, poignant or just stories. Many are not told by Lincoln and a few are neither by nor about the president. Many refer to included political cartoons or other illustrations that are not part of this Kindle edition. This latter point may be due to limitations of Kindle copy or the fact that this is a free edition. There are no chapters or other separations that might have allowed stories to be groups under common themes or historic sequence. Several stories are re-told.
Included are at least two version of Lincoln offering to send to other Union Generals barrels of Gen. Grant's favorite whiskey. There is at least two retelling of the letter from a girl (named in this text) suggesting that Lincoln would make a better appearance if he grew a beard. There are stories about Lincoln's days at the Bar, and how he often caused problems for fellow lawyers by not accepting high fees, and so forth.
While most of the collection is about the physical strength, bravery, intelligence, storytelling skills and so on through the catalog of great traits demonstrated by Lincoln as he grew from boyhood to Presidency there is a suggestion of another element not part of the traditional cannon. Included are a few references to the young Lincoln beginning his political career by fighting, beating and extending his influence via the loyalty of town tuffs. Politics in frontier America could be a physical thing and what we would now call gangs could be part of a candidate's 18th century "get out the vote' effort. Never before had I read that this may have been true for Abe Lincoln.
Gen. McClellan , to a lesser degree Cabinet members such as Sec of State William Seward, Jefferson Davis (of Course) do not fair well in many of the stories, Not always by direct attack, more often by suggestion. This is about as subtle as the book gets.
The last 10% is a fairly short biography. Much of it is well known. I had not known that Lincoln could have been Governor of the Oregon Territory, but for Mrs. Lincoln's probable refusal. Later she is given a few pages, also adulatory and respectful of her skills, intellectual, social and political.
Lincoln's Yarns and Stories is not a bad book. It is not as good as it could have been. It would instantly be better if it followed some kind of order.
If you can imagine a memorial type book written by collecting the reminiscences of a great man's friends, put together in no order and absent any attribution or confirmation and you can imagine the contents of: Lincoln's Yarns and Stories: a complete collection of the funny and witty anecdotes that made Lincoln famous as America's greatest story teller [Kindle Edition].
Not every story is funny or witty. Many are sad, poignant or just stories. Many are not told by Lincoln and a few are neither by nor about the president. Many refer to included political cartoons or other illustrations that are not part of this Kindle edition. This latter point may be due to limitations of Kindle copy or the fact that this is a free edition. There are no chapters or other separations that might have allowed stories to be groups under common themes or historic sequence. Several stories are re-told.
Included are at least two version of Lincoln offering to send to other Union Generals barrels of Gen. Grant's favorite whiskey. There is at least two retelling of the letter from a girl (named in this text) suggesting that Lincoln would make a better appearance if he grew a beard. There are stories about Lincoln's days at the Bar, and how he often caused problems for fellow lawyers by not accepting high fees, and so forth.
While most of the collection is about the physical strength, bravery, intelligence, storytelling skills and so on through the catalog of great traits demonstrated by Lincoln as he grew from boyhood to Presidency there is a suggestion of another element not part of the traditional cannon. Included are a few references to the young Lincoln beginning his political career by fighting, beating and extending his influence via the loyalty of town tuffs. Politics in frontier America could be a physical thing and what we would now call gangs could be part of a candidate's 18th century "get out the vote' effort. Never before had I read that this may have been true for Abe Lincoln.
Gen. McClellan , to a lesser degree Cabinet members such as Sec of State William Seward, Jefferson Davis (of Course) do not fair well in many of the stories, Not always by direct attack, more often by suggestion. This is about as subtle as the book gets.
The last 10% is a fairly short biography. Much of it is well known. I had not known that Lincoln could have been Governor of the Oregon Territory, but for Mrs. Lincoln's probable refusal. Later she is given a few pages, also adulatory and respectful of her skills, intellectual, social and political.
Lincoln's Yarns and Stories is not a bad book. It is not as good as it could have been. It would instantly be better if it followed some kind of order.
April 6, 2022
Well, that only took me five years.
I was hoping for a collection of all the tales that Lincoln told. I was up for charm.
What is here is disjointed. Some entries are descriptions of political cartoons. As an apparent afterthought, there is a brief biography tacked on the end. It feels like some stories were retold by different folks. Hence, my picking it up and putting it down over the years.
However, this is a book about Lincoln. Which guarantees some gems. Some chuckles. Some fun yarns. The old book could have used some organization, but there were enough entertaining tales to make it worthwhile.
I was hoping for a collection of all the tales that Lincoln told. I was up for charm.
What is here is disjointed. Some entries are descriptions of political cartoons. As an apparent afterthought, there is a brief biography tacked on the end. It feels like some stories were retold by different folks. Hence, my picking it up and putting it down over the years.
However, this is a book about Lincoln. Which guarantees some gems. Some chuckles. Some fun yarns. The old book could have used some organization, but there were enough entertaining tales to make it worthwhile.
August 13, 2018
You may know many of these stories, but it was good to read them again in the context set by the author. Much of it is first hand story telling.
Tell your friends about this book. Enlighten them.
And when you can, visit Ford's Theater, Lincoln's homes and his grave. And visit New Salem to visit "his store" .
God bless America and those who built it.
Tell your friends about this book. Enlighten them.
And when you can, visit Ford's Theater, Lincoln's homes and his grave. And visit New Salem to visit "his store" .
God bless America and those who built it.
June 17, 2025
A nice collection of everything Lincoln. while the majority of materials in the book are the yarns and stories, McClure includes a lot of biographical material as well. If you only ever read one book on Lincoln, this book would be it, it is a compact yet thorough collection of everything Honest Abe.
July 21, 2024
A meandering recollection of stories, jokes, and other tidbits either told by Lincoln himself or told about him. This book certainly captures the Lincoln's humor and personal charms, but its disorganized style makes for a less-than-smooth reading experience.
October 4, 2017
Plenty of good stories in this collection. I have a hardcover edition with no publication date, but presume it's 1901.
September 18, 2015
I read the free digital edition and the conversion of the physical edition to digital shows many issues, particularly in the sub-titles, which for some reason are mostly scrambled. If you can put up with that, the main text, which is the real information in this tome, is mostly intact. It's also much easier on storage if purchased digitally.
There is a lot of information here, much of which I didn't know. The largest part of the book is filled with quotes if Lincoln, anecdotes and stories by those who knew him. The last 30 pages or so are like a separate biography that starts with the beginning of his political career and ends with the construction of his tomb/memorial. Of particular note are the pages about what happened just prior to his death, during and afterward. It is very detailed but riveting to read. Much of this information is not well known, and worth every minute taken to read it.
It took me 2 years and 3 months to read this, not continuously of course. I'm glad to have stuck with it, and have many highlights that I'll enjoy reading again.
There is a lot of information here, much of which I didn't know. The largest part of the book is filled with quotes if Lincoln, anecdotes and stories by those who knew him. The last 30 pages or so are like a separate biography that starts with the beginning of his political career and ends with the construction of his tomb/memorial. Of particular note are the pages about what happened just prior to his death, during and afterward. It is very detailed but riveting to read. Much of this information is not well known, and worth every minute taken to read it.
It took me 2 years and 3 months to read this, not continuously of course. I'm glad to have stuck with it, and have many highlights that I'll enjoy reading again.
April 1, 2011
Este libro se lo recomendaría a historiadores, biógrafos, gente que le apasiona la historia americana o la figura del presidente americano, gente interesada por la abolición de la esclavitud en Estados Unidos, gente interesada en la guerra civil, gente interesada en Stanton, Lamon, Grant y Lincoln (obviamente), gente que disfrute anécdotas e historias cortas.
Está entretenido, de verdad, e inesperado.
Está entretenido, de verdad, e inesperado.
March 13, 2009
Fun read from the standpoint that some stories attributed to Mr. Lincoln are not so, but many others seldom talked about are in this book. I have two copies of this book - one published in 1901 and the other a paper back given to me by June Spurlock (Dataflo accountant) in 1980.
Read
July 12, 2013If Aesop ran for office, we'd have a collection rather like this one.
August 28, 2016
Interesting
Reading book only deepened my admiration for Lincoln. The anecdotes and stories showed the human side of this great man.
Reading book only deepened my admiration for Lincoln. The anecdotes and stories showed the human side of this great man.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews