Alonzo Rothschild (1862-1915), born in New York City to German-Jewish parents, developed early in life an interest in books and reading. As a young man, Rothschild tried his hand at journalism, spending several months working as a reporter for the New York Commercial Advertiser.  Employment with a wholesale jewelry company interrupted for several years his plans for a journalistic career.  However, it was through the jewelry business that Rothschild returned to journalism, when in 1885 he founded The Jewelers Weekly, a publication devoted to covering news of the trade with minimal advertising.  The publication was immensely successful and, as a result, Rothschild was able to retire at the young age of twenty-eight.  Rothschild devoted the remainder of his life to self-education and to writing.  He moved from New York City to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and attended courses at Harvard as a special student. It was during his residency in Cambridge that Rothschild developed an interest in studying the life of Abraham Lincoln.  Rothschild planned to write a book or two on Lincoln and his cabinet.  As his research progressed, however, Rothschild decided to concentrate solely on Lincoln, producing Lincoln, Master of Men: A Study in Character, published by Houghton Mifflins Riverside Press in 1906.  Rothschild was writing a second book on Lincoln when his life was tragically cut short by a swimming accident in 1915.