"Though based on the same basic transcripts that Lincoln and most subsequent scholars have used, Davis and Wilson have corrected the irregular paragraphing, arbitrary punctuation, and occasionally garbled transcriptions in the originals. The result is a definitive new edition that is far more readable and almost certainly more reliable."--The New York Review of Books
"[ Davis and Wilson] bring to light a multitude of linguistic, rhetorical, and contextual factors that influenced the formation of an authoritative printed text."--Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association Davis and Wilson have crafted a clear, unadulterated presentation on the debates by offering them in their entirety. . . . Recommended.--Choice "One of the highlight Lincoln publications. . . . The first critical edition, parsing what the candidates actually said, regardless of the source, and clarifying and extending the speakers' words by correcting the originals' irregular paragraphing, arbitrary punctuation, and occasionally confused transcriptions."--American Heritage
This edition of the Abraham Lincoln-Stephen Douglas debates surpasses all previous editions and establishes the standard text for the foreseeable future. . . . Davis and Wilsons edition is accessible and user-friendly.--The Journal of American History "The words spoken over the course of these debates deserve every ounce of the critical attention that Davis and Wilson have lavished on them. . . . The most reliable text of the debates now available."--The Journal of Southern History "Davis and Wilson have given us an enduring work of scholarship, allowing these political speeches from a time long passed to be read as a work of literature or history."--Journal of Illinois History "The editors deserve high praise for producing an edition of the debates that is not only interesting but useful."--Fides et historia "This is an outstanding achievement of meticulous scholarship, one of supreme importance. This edition will serve as the standard reference work on the debates as well as the most accessible text for students and others encountering the debates for the first time."--David Zarefsky, author of Lincoln, Douglas, and Slavery: In the Crucible of Public Debate "This edition of the Lincoln-Douglas debates must certainly become the urtext of those great debates. Along with the useful introductions offered for each of the seven debates, Davis and Wilson have created a fuller version of the debaters' words--even down to the heckling of the crowds--than has ever been available before. No Lincoln library can afford to be without it; no one with even a passing interest in the history of American politics can afford not to read it."--Allen C. Guelzo, author of Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates That Defined America
