Abraham Lincoln Book Shop, Inc.

Ralph Newman, a master promoter, raconteur, one time merchant marine, minor-league baseball player and hopeless bibliophile, founded the shop in part to serve the passionate collecting needs of a small circle of friends devoted to the study of the Civil War and the Great Emancipator. Among that small circle were poet Carl Sandburg, authors Bruce Catton, Otto Eisenschiml, E. B. ‘Pete’ Long, Stanley Horn, Lloyd Lewis, and T. Harry Williams, Illinois Governor Otto Kerner and William O. Douglas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Also among Newman’s circle of friends were the fifteen men who became the charter members of The Civil War Round Table, the first chapter in a movement of Civil War Round Tables that meet monthly across the U.S. and around the World. Round Table members from around the globe still visit the Book Shop and sit at the original “round table” while reviewing Lincoln autographs, manuscripts, artwork, or rare books.

In 1971 Daniel Weinberg entered into a partnership with Ralph Newman, and in 1984 purchased Newman’s interest to become the sole proprietor.

As suggested by our name, the Book Shop specializes in Lincolniana, material related to the Civil War and material related to U.S. presidents. Rare books, autographs, manuscripts, works of art, statuary, and other treasures grace our shelves and our walls. In-print books, pamphlets, historic broadsides, cartes de visit, and magnificent reproductions of Lincoln and Civil War photographs are available to those who share our love of history. Among our staff we number experts in U.S. history, publishing and bookbinding, art history, photographic history, and handwriting.

While we take pride in our ability to obtain some of the rarest historic collectibles, our wide selection of in-print and out-of-print books provide a ready resource for the new student looking to start an American history library with reasonably priced first editions of standard works. We provide assistance to those developing new collections with our carefully assembled lists of recommended titles on Lincoln, The Essential Lincoln Book Shelf, and on the Presidency, The Essential Presidential Book Shelf.
 
In addition to our well-stocked shelves and collecting lists, we supply important services to the history collector. We offer expert appraisal services for those who wish to establish the monetary worth of family heirlooms for donation, insurance, or tax reasons. And our Americana House reprint publishing company makes available in reprint important works by George S. Bryan, John P. Frank, and Paul Angle and others.

Even though we have about the longest history of any commercial venture in our field, the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop continues to develop new and exciting items for the walls and book shelves of our friends and customers. In recent years we have brought to the market contact prints of President Lincoln from Alexander Gardner's original collodion wet-plate glass negatives, including the most vivid image yet of the famous “Gettysburg” Lincoln, and a magnificent Imperial Salt Print of the same view. We are also proud to celebrate the 2001 publication of Lincoln’s Assassins: Their Trial And Execution, by James Swanson (a long time customer) and Daniel Weinberg.

Those who wish to visit the shop will find themselves welcome at 824 W. Superior Street in Chicago. We publish at least two printed catalogs per year and often many more special offerings to customers on our mailing list. We make a special effort to participate in the ongoing development of the Lincoln and Civil War collecting community by attending many of the more important book autograph and Civil War shows around the U.S., including those at Mansfield, Ohio, Boston, San Francisco, and Gettysburg. Visit us on the web at AbrahamLincolnBookShop.com. We hope that you enjoy perusing our web site, and we look forward to seeing you in our shop sometime soon.