Source:Papers of Abraham Lincoln: Legal Documents and Cases

   The culmination of eight years of editorial work, the four volumes of The Papers of Abraham Lincoln: Legal Documents and Cases present a representative assortment of Lincoln's most important and most interesting cases in a form that both scholars and general readers can most readily and profitably use. Through authoritative transcriptions and contextual annotations, the editors make it possible for serious readers to examine both the documents and the cases in their historical and legal contexts. This edition serves as both an introduction to the Complete Documentary Edition and a substantial documentary text in its own right.

   At the heart of The Papers of Abraham Lincoln: Legal Documents and Cases are forty-nine presentations of individual cases, two "tours" with Lincoln on his semi-annual trip around the judicial circuit, one term of Lincoln's practice in his home county of Sangamon, and three topical chapters. The circuit tours and Sangamon County chapter will allow readers to understand the cadence of Lincoln's law practice as he moved rapidly from criminal cases to debt cases to divorce cases in a single courthouse before moving to the next county seat and a new set of legal issues and litigants. Topical chapters will cover Lincoln's non-litigation or office practice, his advice on being a lawyer, and his experience in several official court roles (judge, state's attorney, juror, commissioner, etc.).  In addition to contextual introductions and annotation for each case, The Papers of Abraham Lincoln: Legal Documents and Cases includes a historical introduction, appendices on the structure of Illinois and federal court systems and on nineteenth-century pleading and practice, a biographical directory with brief sketches of individuals associated with Lincoln's law practice, a glossary of legal terms, and an extensive index for the four volumes.  

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