Answer:
In attempting an analysis of Lincoln's humor one is immediately confronted with two difficulties. In the first place, many stories attributed to Lincoln were never told by him. J. B. McClure's Lincoln Stories is recognized as the most reliable collection, yet Isaac N. Arnold, an intimate friend of Lincoln's, wrote on the fly-leaf of his copy of this book that Lincoln probably told no more than half the stories with which McClure credited him. To prove that Lincoln did or did not tell a particular story is often impossible, for in most cases one must rely upon hearsay evidence or reminiscences.
The second difficulty lies in the fact that the effectiveness of a joke depends in large measure upon the manner of its telling. We may not be at all amused by reading some of Lincoln's jokes or hearing them at second-hand; whereas we might have split our sides had we heard them as he told them. For Lincoln was a master of the story-telling art; and when told by a master, even a dull joke may be irresistible.
"His stories may be literally retold," wrote Henry C. Whitney, "every word, period and comma, but the real humor perished with Lincoln"; for "he provoked as much laughter by the grotesque expression of his homely face as by the abstract fun of his stories."
Explanation:
