“I think it’s natural for a child to be more interested in personalities than events.”
-Judge Jack E. Hightower
Welcome to a new installment in our Book Vault series. The Jack E. Hightower Book Vault holds many rare and collectable books along with many other special items from our collections. Today’s installment focuses on our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln.
Judge Hightower’s fascination with Abraham Lincoln began at a very young age. One of his first hand-made scrapbooks, created in 1935 featured President Lincoln. Hightower began his collection of Lincolniana with the purchase of the Centennial edition of The Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Today, the collection contains over 200 books on the subject of Lincoln, dating from the 19th century to the present. Highlights include D.W. Bartlett’s Life and Public Services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln, with a Portrait on Steel, published in 1860 to the popular 2011 book, Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever by Bill O’Reilly.
However, the most unique piece of Lincolniana, also holds the Vault record for the tiniest: a miniature tin-type photo album of the Lincoln family. Judge Hightower found the album online and scooped it up. With dimensions of 1 3/4″ x 1 3/4″ x 5/8,” the album can fit in the palm of one’s hand. Its binding is leather with a gold engraved design on the front and the engraving of the word “album” on the spine. It is a truly tiny treasure!
Through his generosity Judge Hightower has placed the Lincoln album and related Lincoln materials in our care at Baylor University. All the books in the Hightower Book Vault are cataloged and available for viewing by appointment.