An Abraham Lincoln Tribute. Featuring Woodcuts by Charles Turzak

145 Pages·2012·7.12 MB·English

by  Charles Turzak

Abraham Lincoln Sixteenth President of the United States Born February 12,
1809; died April 15, 1865

Bibliographical Note
This Dover edition, first published in 2009, contains all of the images from
Abraham Lincoln: Biography in Woodcuts, originally published by Charles
Turzak in 1933. Specially prepared for this edition are the Preface by David A.
Beronä, and the following material by Bob Blaisdell: the Introduction, captions
to the plates, and supplementary selections from Lincoln’s speeches and writings
with introductory notes to each selection.
Copyright Copyright © 2009 by Dover Publications, Inc. Preface copyright ©
2009 by David A. Beronä All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Turzak, Charles, b. 1899.
[Abraham Lincoln]
An Abraham Lincoln tribute: featuring woodcuts by Charles
Turzak / edited and with an introduction and captions by Bob
Blaisdell ; with a preface by David A. Beronä.
p. cm.
Originally published under title: Abraham Lincoln : a
biography in woodcuts. Chicago : C. Turzak, 1933.
9780486139081
1. Lincoln, Abraham, 1809–1865—Portraits. 2. Wood-
engraving, American. I. Blaisdell, Robert. II. Title.
E457.6.T86 2009
973.7092—dc22
[B] 2008042728

Manufactured in the United States of America
Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501
TO FLORENCE
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
“LET US HAVE FAITH ...”
BIRTH CABIN IN THE WOODS
THE LINCOLN FAMILY
A SIMPLE BEGINNING
MOVING TO INDIANA
GRAVE OF NANCY HANKS LINCOLN
INDIANA HOME
SPLITTING RAILS
BORROWING A BOOK
MOVING TO ILLINOIS
ABE AT TWENTY-ONE
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI
SLAVES IN NEW ORLEANS
BERRY-LINCOLN STORE
HONEST ABE
LINCOLN WRESTLING JACK ARMSTRONG
ABE AND ANN
ANN RUTLEDGE’S GRAVE
THE DUAL PERSONALITY
LINCOLN THE LAWYER
MAKING THE CIRCUIT
PLEADING THE CASE
CAMPAIGNING
MARY TODD AND LINCOLN
ASPIRATIONS
SLAVERY OR FREEDOM
THE DEBATE
LOYALTY TO A PRINCIPLE
“PROVIDENCE BROUGHT ME THE LEADERSHIP OF THIS
COUNTRY”
A PRAYER FOR UNITY
DELIBERATION
FOUR DARK AND DELIBERATE YEARS
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
AT THE THEATRE
THE ASSASSINATION
SUPPLEMENTARY LETTERS AND SPEECHES
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
PREFACE
Ifirst became acquainted with Charles Turzak’s work in Wood Engravings of the
1930s, by the celebrated printmaker Clare Leighton, especially in the fascinating
print called Man with Drill, which created a remarkable display of a drill’s
pounding vibration in a highly symbolic fashion. Leighton included Turzak with
a group of artists who were “not content to put down upon their wood blocks life
as it would be in the lens of a camera.” I later discovered that, in addition to his
prints and paintings, Turzak published a wordless biography in woodcuts about
Abraham Lincoln that had an interesting story behind its creation.
Charles Turzak was born in Streator, Illinois in 1899. His parents emigrated
from Mrlinek, Czechoslovakia to live in Nokomis, Illinois where Turzak grew
up. His friendship with a neighbor, an English cabinetmaker, contributed to his
early interest in wood. Turzak was remembered, even at an early age, as a boy
who enjoyed whittling monkeys out of peach pits. Through the mentoring of his
neighbor he also constructed and sold five violins, though his interest quickly
extended from carving and design to illustration and drawing. His interest in
wood carving, design, and illustration would naturally develop later into his
preferred method of artistic expression—the woodcut print.
While in high school, Turzak entered a national cartoon contest sponsored by
Purina Mills, located in St. Louis, Missouri, to advertise one of their feed
products. Turzak drew a Rube Goldberg type of cartoon that displayed a donkey
fetching a bag of feed and won the $100 prize. Turzak took the advice of the art
director at Purina Mills, who suggested that Turzak register as a student at the
Art Institute of Chicago. He attended classes from 1920 to 1923. During his
second year he was introduced to relief printing—specifically woodblock
printing—which he mastered quickly, largely from his early interest in carving
and working with wood.
During his time as a student, Turzak was also employed as a freelance
advertising artist. He saved enough money to travel briefly to Europe in 1929
where he visited Czechoslovakia, England, Holland, Germany, France and
Austria. He returned home during the beginning of the Depression and in 1931
married Florence Cockerham, a journalism student at Northwestern. She worked