Tide Turns Case 3

Governor Horner’s Golden Book

Illinois Governor Henry Horner collected Lincolniana objects like this gold illuminated book.  Horner left his collection to the State of Illinois because he could think of “no greater service to the future generations of the citizens of the State…” than to make the collection available to all.

The book was presented to Horner by friends who admired him.  Many knew throughout his life, Horner was “inspired by the character, achievements and utterances of Abraham Lincoln…who[m] [he] believed, represent[ed] the highest ideals of American citizenship and leadership.”

The text features Lincoln’s second inaugural speech, the Gettysburg Address, and Walt Whitman’s elegy to Lincoln, O Captain! My Captain!  The book’s hand tooling, inscribing, and illumination were completed by Alberto Sangorski and bound by Robert Riviere and Son of London, England, in 1929. 

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