John Hay: Writings

John Hay: Writings

John Hay was a writer from an early age. He leaned toward poetry while in school at Brown, and was a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines his whole life. He achieved international fame as a poet and novelist. His biography of Lincoln, co-authored with John Nicolay, was an immediate and lasting success, and he counted among his friends and correspondents many of the shining literary and journalistic lights of the day, including Samuel Clemens, William Dean Howells, Whitelaw Reid, and many others.

Books by John Hay include:

"Castilian Days" (1871) -- poetry written while Hay was secretary to the United States legation in Madrid.
"Pike County Ballads and Other Pieces (1871) -- includes "Jim Bludso of the Prairie Belle" and "Little Breeches," Hay's most famous poems. Available on the Web from the University of Michigan.
"The Bread-Winners" (1884) -- a novel about labor unions.
"Abraham Lincoln: A History" (1890) -- written in collaboration with John G. Nicolay: Lincoln's two private secretaries collaborated on this massive work for more than a decade. It is still a standard reference and still in print. A one-volume condensation, edited by Nicolay and published in 1902, is also available.
"Poems" (1897) -- a retrospective selection of pieces from his earlier work, with a few additions. Available on the Web from the University of Michigan.
"Addresses" (1906) -- a volume of speeches collected and published in 1906, after his death.
"Complete Poetical Works" (1916) -- includes poems unpublished in his lifetime, collected with an introduction by his son, Clarence L. Hay. Available on the Web from the University of Michigan.
Nicolay and Hay contributed a series of articles on Lincoln to Century Magazine. Nicolay's copies are included in the Alfred W. Stern Collection of Lincolniana at the Library of Congress.