The Lincoln Collection
The Lincoln Collection contains over two thousand books and pamphlets, photographs, artwork, sculpture, artifacts, historic documents, and miscellaneous material pertaining to the life and career of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), the sixteenth President of the United States. Among the most significant items in the collection are copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment signed by Lincoln. Also included are official documents with Lincoln's signature, two books from Lincoln's personal library, newspapers and magazines of the period, and a copy of the Ford's Theatre playbill printed shortly after the assassination. Among the artwork in the collection are photographs and lithographic portraits of Lincoln and bronze portrait busts. A group of prints by Currier and Ives depict Lincoln's assassination and funeral. The collection also includes a large group of printed funeral orations and memorials.
History of the Lincoln Club
Founded in Wilmington in 1929, the initial activities of the Lincoln Club of Delaware centered around its annual dinner and program commemorating the February 12th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. In 1938, Frank G. Tallman, one of the founders of the Lincoln Club, presented his extensive collection of Lincolniana which was one of the finest private collections in the United States and numbered nearly two thousand items, to the Wilmington Institute Free Library where it was housed in a special room. The Lincoln Room originally opened May 26, 1941, and was furnished as a room of the period by members of Mrs. Tallman's family and the Lincoln Club of Delaware. Over the years, numerous individuals interested in the collection have donated books and other items to the Lincoln Collection.
In 1972, the Lincoln Collection was donated to the University of Delaware and relocated to the University's Goodstay Center in Wilmington where it was housed in three rooms with period furnishings. Over the years, members of the Lincoln Club of Delaware and the University administration determined that significant portions of the Lincoln Collection would be more appropriately housed and displayed in the University's Special Collections Department located in the Hugh M. Morris Library on the Newark campus. Relocating much of the rare and valuable books, manuscripts, artwork, and artifacts to the Special Collections Department at the University of Delaware Library would ensure that this material will be housed in a secure, controlled environment specifically created for the storage of rare books and manuscripts. Accordingly, during the summer of 1998, selected materials were transferred from the Goodstay Center to the Special Collections Department of the University of Delaware Library. Portions of the Lincoln Collection will remain at the Goodstay Center, where the University will continue to make space available to the Lincoln Club of Delaware. The Library has also made facsimile reproductions of original manuscripts and artwork which will be displayed at the Goodstay Center.
The construction of a case to house a permanent, rotating exhibit of material from the Lincoln Collection was completed in August 1998. The initial exhibit of material from the Lincoln Collection which was mounted in December features Currier & Ives prints and other artwork, sculpture, a unique ceramic tile portrait of Abraham Lincoln, nineteenth-century illustrated sheet music published after Lincoln's death, and a sampling of books from the Lincoln Collection's extensive holdings of more than two thousand items.
Using the Lincoln Collection
The Lincoln Collection is available for use in the Special Collections Department of the Morris Library.
Books and journals in the Lincoln Collection can be accessed using DELCAT, the Library's online catalog. Cataloged items in the Lincoln Collection include tracings in DELCAT for both "Lincoln Collection" and "Lincoln Club of Delaware." A complete listing of these holdings can be obtained by either of the following DELCAT searches:
- Use Browse Author and enter "Lincoln Collection"
- Use Browse Author and enter "Lincoln Club of Delaware"
Manuscript and archival materials in the Lincoln Collection include the following:
- MSS 465 Autograph Abraham Lincoln Documents from the Lincoln Collection at the University of Delaware
- MSS 521 Abraham Lincoln collection
Additionally, the University of Delaware Library Digital Collections provides access to digital versions of thirteen autographed Abraham Lincoln documents from the Autograph Abraham Lincoln Documents collection.
Lincoln at the Goodstay Center
Portions of the Lincoln Collection including books, facsimile documents, sculpture and other artwork, can be seen in the period-furnished Lincoln Rooms of the Goodstay Center of the Wilmington campus of the University of Delaware. The rooms are open to the public for visits and research. Directions to the Goodstay Center are available via Google maps.
Hours for the Goodstay Center are:
- October through May:
- Tuesday afternoons from noon to 4:00 p.m.
- Lincoln's birthday (February 12):
- 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Sunday of President's Day weekend:
- noon to 4:00 p.m.
- President's Day Monday:
- 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- The Collection will be closed during Christmas week.
Arrangements for visits at other times and group visits should be made in advance by calling (302) 573-4468 or by mail at 2800 Pennsylvania Avenue, Wilmington, Delaware 19806.
