16 JANUARY 1909, Page 25

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

[Under this heading los nofice such Books of the week as have not boon reserved for roview in other forms.] The Lincoln Centennial Medal. (G. P. Putnam's Sons. 25s. not.)—The year 1909 is the centenary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln—he was born on February 11th, 1809—and among its commemorations is the publication of this volume. It con- tains an actual medal with Lincoln's head on the obverse, and on the reverse the date of the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1st, 1863), with a facsimile of the President's signature. The medal is from the hands of M. Jules Edouard Roinii of Paris, and is certainly an admirable piece of work. The volume contains a paper by Professor George N. Oloott on the origin and symbolism of the medal, an essay by Mr. Richard Lloyd Jones on the purpose and character of the centennial celebration, and some of Lincoln's characteristic utterances,—his "Farewell Address" at Springfield, the Proclamation itself, the famous letter to General Hooker notifying his appointment to the chief command of the Army of the Potomac, &c.