Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library

Published Materials

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library houses more than 171,700 books and pamphlets, 3,000 maps, and 1,200 periodical series. Major collections relate to individuals, cities and towns, agriculture, industry, religion, and transportation. There are many family genealogies and a variety of material on the Civil War (both Union and Confederate), the Northwest Territory, overland journeys, and Midwestern settlement.

The earliest maps in the Library collection date from the mid-1700s. Of particular note are pre-statehood maps of the Great Lakes, Northwest and Louisiana Territories, and the United States east of the Mississippi River. There are numerous nineteenth-century Illinois transportation guides.  Some published materials are available on interlibrary loan.

General Illinois Material
The library houses numerous volumes on the history of Illinois from the standard work Illinois:  A History of the Prairie State by Robert P. Howard to Governor Thomas Ford's A History of Illinois, from its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847 to the more contemporary Illinois:  Crossroads of a Continent by Lois A. Carrier.  Gazetteers of various settlers, material on ethnic groups in Illinois and their patterns of migration, and fraternal and religious organizational material are among the unique holdings of the library.  The library also has materials on the Native American population.

County Material
County histories especially those published between 1870 and 1915 provide county surveys from the time of origin to the time of printing. Each contains biographical sketches of individuals and families living within the county. Most also contain family name indexes.  The historical library has histories from each of Illinois' 102 counties.  In addition the library has surname index for all of the county histories in its collection.

County plat books contain detailed maps of the townships within the county and indicate ownership of the land at the time of printing (ca. 1870 - 1930). Some also contain brief histories and biographical sketches.

The Library has a number of indexes to federal census records. These include Illinois indexes for the years 1810, 1818, 1820, 1830, 1840, and 1850, 1860, and 1870 as well as abridged copies of federal records for many Illinois counties (1810 - 1880).

The Library has a number of privately printed lists of cemetery inscriptions. Indexes of birth, death, probate, land, marriage, and other miscellaneous records are also held.

City Material
The Library holds histories, city directories, and miscellaneous publications about many Illinois cities and towns.

Family & Association Material
The Library has family genealogies and histories, publications of patriotic and veterans' organizations, journals, quarterlies, and newsletters of many local, state, and national genealogical and historical societies and other organizations. The Library has genealogical research handbooks, Illinois and national DAR lineage books, and records of other patriotic and hereditary organizations.  The Library is one of only five repositories in Illinois for the records compiled by the Illinois branch of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Civil War Material
The library has an extensive collection of Civil War regimental histories and reunion booklets of various regiments.  Other Civil War materials are available in the manuscripts and audiovisual collections.

Out - of - State Material
In addition to the material described above, the Library has a rich collection of state and national histories and biographies. The library has significant genealogical holdings for states other than Illinois. The states best represented in the Library's genealogical collections are:

Online Research of ALPL
The holdings of the Library may searched via the following sites: