Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution [Hardcover]

James L. Swanson (Author), Daniel R. Weinberg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1892041421 | ISBN-13: 978-1892041425 | Publication Date: November 1, 2001 | Edition: 1

On April 14, 1865, the president of the United States went to the theater. Five days earlier Lee had surrendered to Grant. The Civil War was over and the North held a jubilee. On that night John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln, and soon the murderer was hunted down and killed by federal troops. But the story of the Lincoln assassination does not end with his state funeral and the death of his killer. Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution resurrects these events by presenting an unprecedented visual record of more than 200 contemporary photographs, documents, prints, woodcuts, newspapers, pamphlets, books, and artifacts, many hitherto unpublished. Highlights include original albumen prints, cartes de visite, stereo cards, reward posters for the conspirators, the trial transcripts, the manuscript order for execution, and the seminal series of photographs by famed Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner of the conspirators in prison and during their execution. A unique work, the book will appeal to anyone interested in American history, Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, law, crime, assassination, nineteenth-century photographic portraiture, and the history of American photojournalism.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This beautifully produced, groundbreaking volume of over 300 documents, portraits, memorabilia and arcana relating to Lincoln's assassination manages to transcend its immediate historical importance to become something artistically unique. Swanson and Weinberg, both Lincoln collectors and scholars, have assembled a remarkable collection of images relating to the assassination and the fate of its perpetrators (whose guilt some historians question today), including many that have not been easily available before. Some of the more common images include memorial posters of the assassination, wanted posters, newspaper reports and reproductions of plates from books about the event. They also reproduce letters from a young John Wilkes Booth as well as hand-written death warrants issued by the Union army. But the centerpiece of the volume is the collection of photographs taken by Alexander Gardner of six of the indicted conspirators as they awaited trial. These photographs formally posed, beautifully shot and eerily evocative are reminiscent of the work of artists such as Diane Arbus and Robert Mapplethorpe. Equally moving and disturbing are Gardner's photographs of the executions by hanging of several of the conspirators photos in which one can see the reality of death. Swanson and Weinberg contribute enough text to place all of these artifacts in historical context and provide an intelligent, informative primer on the topic. (Nov.)Forecast: While the idea of a coffee-table or art book on such a topic might seem grisly, this volume achieves high marks in both categories and will be read and examined by both academics and Civil War enthusiasts.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"[A] fascinating book." (New York Times Book Review )

"Even the most serious Civil War devotee can expect to find something new here." (Chicago Tribune ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Arena Editions; 1 edition (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892041421
• ISBN-13: 978-1892041425
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #590,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James L. Swanson is the author of the New York Times bestseller Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. He is an attorney who has written about history, the Constitution, popular culture, and other subjects for a variety of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, American Heritage, Smithsonian, and the Los Angeles Times. Mr. Swanson serves on the advisory council of the Ford's Theatre Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Campaign and is a member of the advisory committee of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Amazing Photographs!, December 22, 2001

By 

todd (Mokena, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution (Hardcover)

This book is a fabulous photographic piece on the Lincoln assasination, covering the events and the people involved. The artifacts that are pictured are truly excellent examples. The quality of the photographs make for a wonderful book with great content. Many of the photos included have never been seen before. Swanson and Weinberg have put together a wonderful book that should be on every Lincoln bookshelf! I hope that the authors consider producing other fine books about President Lincoln that follow the same format. This is a great companion book to "Blood on the Moon" by Edward Steers, Jr..

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, January 4, 2007

By 

Publius (Utopia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution (Hardcover)

What Weinberg and Swanson give us here is a journey back in time to the Spring and Summer of 1865. For some reason, Lincoln assassination scholarship has been gaining interest of late with Swanson's other book entitled "Manhunt." No doubt, interest is also gaining momentum with the proposed Harrison Ford movie about the assassination. Nevertheless, Swanson's book is destined to be a classic illustrated compendium of the events around Lincoln's death. It is equal or maybe even better to Kunhardt's "Twenty Days" which was published during the 1960's.

The stories behind the photographs are well worth mentioning. In particular, there is a very poignant story of a soldier leaning on the scaffolding for the gallows during the execution. That soldier is right below Mary Surratt, and in one of Gardner's pictures (which were beautifully restored for this book) you can see this soldier puking as the death warrant is read aloud. Another story which Weinberg and Swanson relate is how the 4 hooded prisoners could hear, the night before their execution, the gallows being constructed. Overall, a great companion piece to either Swanson's "Manhunt" or any other book on the Assassination.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, March 26, 2007

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution (Hardcover)

In this fascinating book, an accomplished author teams up with an avid Lincoln-ologist to produce an excellent work. This book has a fascinating account of the capture, trial and (in some cases) execution of John Wilkes Booth's fellow "conspirators," and an excellent collection of pictures and reproductions of important documents.

Overall, I found this to be an excellent book. It has just enough text to be highly informative on the conspirators, without getting bogged down in minutiae. Also, it keeps a level-headed approach to the assassination throughout, eschewing the kind of theorizing that marks too many books on the subject. Yep, I highly enjoyed this colorful and highly readable book, and give it my highest recommendations!