ts had Aesop and his fables. The moderns had Abraham Lincoln
and his stories.

Aesop's Fables have been printed in book form in almost every language
and millions have read them with pleasure and profit. Lincoln's stories
were scattered in the recollections of thousands of people in various
parts of the country. The historians who wrote histories of Lincoln's
life remembered only a few of them, but the most of Lincoln's stories
and the best of them remained unwritten. More than five years ago the
author of this book conceived the idea of collecting all the yarns and
stories, the droll sayings, and witty and humorous anecdotes of Abraham
Lincoln into one large book, and this volume is the result of that idea.

Before Lincoln was ever heard of as a lawyer or politician, he was
famous as a story teller. As a politician, he always had a story to fit
the other side; as a lawyer, he won many cases by telling the jury a
story which showed them the justice of his side better than any argument
could have done.

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.

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.

Every person to keep healthy ought to have one good hearty laugh every
day. Lincoln did, and the author hopes that the stories at which he
laughed will continue to furnish laughter to all who appreciate good
humor, with a moral point and spiced with that true philosophy bred in
those who live close to nature and to the people around them.

In producing this new Lincoln book, the publishers have followed an
entirely new and novel method of illustrating it. The old shop-worn
pictures that are to be seen in every "History of Lincoln," and in
every other book written about him, such as "A Flatboat on the Sangamon
River," "State Capitol at Springfield," "Old Log Cabin," etc., have all
been left out and in place of them the best special artists that could
be employed have supplied or