THE LAST BEST HOPE OF EARTH Abraham...

THE LAST BEST HOPE OF EARTH Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America by John H. Rhodehamel and Thomas F. Schwartz (Huntington Library Press: $12.95; 80 pages, illustrated, paperback original). The catalogue of an exhibit of letters, documents, publications and artifacts that remains on exhibit at the Huntington through August, 1994, “Earth” documents the life and political career of America’s 16th President. His efforts to heal the divisions engendered by the Civil War have taken on a new relevance, as contemporary politicians evade still-unresolved issues Lincoln dared to face in 1862, when he wrote, “We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of Earth.”