Lincoln enjoyed Hackett’s Falstaff
From The Papers and Writings of Abraham Lincoln
To J. H. HACKETT.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON August 17, 1863.
JAMES H. HACKETT, Esq.
MY DEAR SIR:—Months ago I should have acknowledged the receipt of your book and accompanying kind note; and I now have to beg your pardon for not having done so.
For one of my age I have seen very little of the drama. The first presentation of Falstaff I ever saw was yours here, last winter or spring. Perhaps the best compliment I can pay is to say, as I truly can, I am very anxious to see it again. Some of Shakespeare’s plays I have never read, while others I have gone over perhaps as frequently as any un-professional reader. Among the latter are Lear, Richard III., Henry VIII., Hamlet, and especially Macbeth. I think nothing equals Macbeth. It is wonderful.
Unlike you gentlemen of the profession, I think the soliloquy in Hamlet commencing “Oh, my offense is rank,” surpasses that commencing “To be or not to be.” But pardon this small attempt at criticism. I should like to hear you pronounce the opening speech of Richard III. Will you not soon visit Washington again? If you do, please call and let me make your personal acquaintance.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN
According to President Lincoln’s Cottage Blog there is a good chance the book James Henry Hackett sent President Lincoln was Notes and Comments upon Certain Plays and Actors of Shakespeare
