| Reading Lincoln's Words | 1 | ||
| CHAPTER 1 "All the Books He Could Lay His Hands On," 1809-1825 | 3 | ||
| CHAPTER 2 Shakespeare, 1825-1834 | 30 | ||
| CHAPTER 3 Burns, Byron, and Love Letters, 1834-1837 | 60 | ||
| CHAPTER 4 "How Miserably Things Seem to Be Arranged," 1837-1842 | 99 | ||
| CHAPTER 5 "Were I President," 1842-1849 | 144 | ||
| CHAPTER 6 "Honest Seeking," 1849-1854 | 198 | ||
| CHAPTER 7 "The Current of Events," 1855-1861 | 242 | ||
| CHAPTER 8 The Master of Language and the Presidency, 1861-1865 | 294 | ||
| Annotated Bibliography | 357 | ||
| Notes | 363 | ||
| Acknowledgments | 385 | ||
| Index | 387 |