The Press: Lincoln to El Greco

In 1858 the publisher of a little, twelve-year-old Illinois newspaper asked his friend Abe Lincoln for an autobiographical sketch.* Publisher Jesse Fell didn't intend to use it in his own Bloomington Pantograph, because everyone in those parts knew all about Abe. He wanted to forward copies of it to eastern papers, to get them interested in Lincoln for President. The Lincoln manuscript has never left the family's possession; neither has the newspaper. Last week the Pantagraph celebrated its 100th anniversary with an ad-fat, 156-page issue.

The Pantagraph's present publisher, six-foot Loring "Bud" Merwin,...

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