1940 Caldecott Medal Winner
Abraham Lincoln continues to stand as America's most beloved President. Of our nation's historical icons, Lincoln is the quintessential embodiment of American possibility in his mythic-like rise from rail-splitter to Chief Executive and Emancipator of the oppressed. The admiration felt by Americans for Lincoln's humble integrity, his noble statesmanship, and his keen sense of justice, is beautifully captured in the d'Aulaires' art and prose.
Not since 1957 have d'Aulaire fans been able to enjoy the beauty of the stone lithographic work that earned these beloved author-artists the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1940. Now, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of their Caldecott Medal award, and marking a century and a half of emancipation, readers young and old will delight in this biography of America's most beloved President. Beautiful Feet Books worked with Timothy Young, curator of Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Collection at Yale University Library, to restore the original art through brand new reproductions of the 1939 lithographic proofs.
"This 2015 edition from Beautiful Feet Books allows readers to view Abraham Lincoln as the d'Aulaires saw him. Because of the care with color reproduction and the heavy ivory paper selected for the book, contemporary audiences can finally see why the d'Aulaires artwork was held in awe by those who first saw it published." - Anita Silvey
"This facsimile edition shares a similar dedication to detail and wonderfully conveys the sense of joy and beauty found in the original." - Timothy Young
About the Authors:
Ingri Mortenson and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire met in Munich where both were studying art in the 1920's. Ingri had grown up in Norway; Edgar, the son of a noted portrait painter, was born in Switzerland and had lived in Paris and Florence. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to the United States and began to create the picture books that have established their reputation for unique craftsmanship. Their books were known for their vivid lasting color. This was the result of the painstaking process of stone lithography used for all their American history biographies. This was an old world craft, in which they were both expert, which involved actually tracing their images on large slabs of Bavarian limestone.
Throughout their long careers, Ingri and Edgar worked as a team on both art and text. Their research took them to the actual places of their biographies, including the countries of Italy, Portugal and Spain when they were researching Columbus; to the hills of Virginia while they researched Washington; and to the wilds of Kentucky and Illinois for Abraham Lincoln, winner of the 1940 Caldecott Medal. The fact that they spoke 5 languages fluently served them well in their European travels and in their research of original documents. Since their deaths in the 1980's, Ingri and Edgar's books and works have been kept alive by their two sons Ola and Nils.
