Roy Prentice Basler (November 19, 1906 – October 25, 1989) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

who rose to prominence in the middle of the 20th century. Basler was most famous for editing the collected works of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. He also wrote the introduction to Sam Watkins' "Co Aytch"

Biography

Basler was born in St. Louis and attended

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before receiving his

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in American literature at Duke University. He headed the English departments at Ringling College, Florence State Teachers' College and

Peabody College Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development (also known as Vanderbilt Peabody College, Peabody College, or simply Peabody) is the education school of Vanderbilt University, a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. ...

, and was executive secretary and editor-in-chief of the Abraham Lincoln Association from 1947 to 1952. He joined the staff of the

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in 1952 and eventually became chief of the manuscript division and held the library's chair in American history. He retired in 1974 and moved to

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...

, where he died in 1989. Basler's definitive eight volume collection of Lincoln's writings was published in 1953 and a supplement was released in 1974. It has been described as "the principal source" and "the most invaluable work of all" for Lincoln studies. Herbert Mitgang
"After 175 Years, They Still Pursue Lincoln"
''

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'', February 12, 1984.

Bibliography

*''The Lincoln Legend: A Study in Changing Conceptions''. By Roy Basler. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1935. *
The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln
'. By Abraham Lincoln (Author), Roy P. Basler (Editor). New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1953. *''The Muse and the Librarian''. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1974.

References

1906 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Historians of Abraham Lincoln 20th-century American male writers {{US-historian-stub