Emanuel Hertz Collection, 1921-1937 | Illinois History and Lincoln Collections

Scope and Contents:

The Hertz collection consists of a file of correspondence, mainly related to the Herndon-Weik Collection of Lincolniana. The collection also contains 23 articles and addresses written by Hertz. Finally, the Hertz collection includes a file of clippings related to Abraham Lincoln and a list of manuscripts, photostats of which he obtained from the Ward Hill Lamon collection in the Huntington Library. The material, which initially constituted "Volume VIII" of the Library's Randall collection, was disbound so as to file the material by name in this collection.

Biographical/Historical Context:

Emanuel Hertz (1870-1940) was a New York lawyer who spoke and published extensively on Abraham Lincoln. He brought together many of his writings in Abraham Lincoln: A New Portrait (2 volumes, published in 1931). Hertz was also active in the Weik Manuscript Corporation, which was engaged in selling the Herndon-Weik Collection of Lincolniana (now held by the Library of Congress) from the estate of Jesse W. Weik (1857-1930). In 1938 Hertz published a selection of papers from the Herndon-Weik collection in The Hidden Lincoln from the Letters and Papers of William H. Herndon.

Acquisition Source: The items forming the Hertz collection were donated to the Library as part of the James G. Randall Collection of Abraham Lincoln Source Materials (MS 1026), and were originally bound by the Library as volume VIII of that collection.