Early American sum books were in some ways the predecessor of the modern ringed notebook. They consisted of multiple pages stitched or clamped together for ease of handling. Most sum books contained copies of tables on weights and measures, percentages, fractions, and the elementary rules of mathematics. Shown here is one of ten surviving pages from Abraham Lincolns homemade student sum book. The badly faded doggerel in the lower left corner reads as follows:

Abraham Lincoln
his hand and pen
he will be good but
God knows When.