Tell Me of Lincoln

If you missed William Styple when he was on CSpan's BookTV to talk about Tell Me of Lincoln in 2010, he is presenting stories from the book at the library next Saturday, March 24 at 2 p.m. A book signing will follow.

Tell Me of Lincoln: Memories of Abraham Lincoln, The Civil War & Life in Old New York is by James E. Kelly, the artist and sculptor of public figures. Born in 1855, James Kelly wished to make a posthumous bronze sculpture of Lincoln and recorded his interviews with dozens of people who had met the President, including several eyewitnesses to his assassination. Additionally, Kelly kept notes on his meetings with public figures such as Theodore Roosevelt and Admiral Dewey of Spanish-American War fame. Kelly also wrote three versions of his memoirs of life in Civil War-era New York City. In Tell Me of Lincoln, William Styple has selected passages from Kelly's writings and organized them to form a coherent whole, with explanatory comments. Styple, a Chatham resident, was interviewed by the Independent Press in 2010.


James Kelly's Washington in Prayer, at Federal Hall in New York. Kelly never made his planned bronze sculpture of Lincoln.