The Apparitionists - A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln's Ghost

In the early days of photography, in the death-strewn wake of the Civil War, one man seized America's imagination. A "spirit photographer," William Mumler, took portrait photographs that featured the ghostly presence of lost loved ones alongside his living subjects. At a time when artists like Mathew Brady were remaking American culture with their cameras, Mumler was a sensation: the affluent and influential came calling, including Mary Todd Lincoln.

It took a circuslike trial of Mumler on fraud charges, starring P. T. Barnum for the prosecution, to expose a fault line of doubt and manipulation. And even then, the judge's stunning verdict suggested no one would ever solve the mystery of how Mumler did it. This forgotten puzzle offers a vivid snapshot of America at a crossroads in its history, a nation in thrall to new technology while grasping desperately for something to believe in.

Über den Autor / die Autorin

PETER MANSEAU is the author of the nonfiction books Vows, Rag and Bone, and One Nation, Under Gods; and the novel Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter, a winner of the National Jewish Book Award. He is the first curator of religion at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.  He lives in Annapolis, Maryland
 

Produktdetails

• Autoren: Peter Manseau
• Verlag: Harper Collins (US)
• Sprache: Englisch
• Produktform: Taschenbuch
• Erschienen: 09.10.2018
• EAN: 9781328557063
• ISBN: 978-1-328-55706-3
• Seiten: 352
• Themen: Sachbuch > Geschichte > Sonstiges; ART / General, History of Art, Local History, Social and cultural history, General and world history, Religion and Politics, Religion and beliefs, Photography and photographs, US West, US Midwest, HISTORY: Social History, HISTORY: Military / United States, HISTORY: AMERICAN, HISTORY: CIVIL WAR, HISTORY: United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877), ART: General, PHOTOGRAPHY: History, RELIGION: Religion, Politics & State, History / American, History / Civil War