Lincoln's Assassins by James L Swanson

Lincoln's Assassins by James L Swanson

This definitive illustrated history of Abraham Lincoln's assassination follows the shocking events from the tragic scene at Ford's Theatre to the trial and execution of John Wilkes Booth's coconspirators. Few remember them today, but once the names Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt, Edman Spangler, Samuel Arnold, Michael O'Laughlin, and Dr. Samuel Mudd were the most reviled and notorious in America.

In Lincoln's Assassins, James L. Swanson and Daniel R. Weinberg present an unprecedented visual record of almost three hundred contemporary photographs, letters, documents, prints, woodcuts, newspapers, pamphlets, books, and artifacts, many hitherto unpublished. These rare materials evoke the popular culture of the time, record the origins of the Lincoln myth, take the reader into the courtroom and the cells of the accused, document the beginning of American photojournalism, and memorialize the fates of the eight conspirators.

Daniel R. Weinberg has been the owner since 1971 of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago, which for the past sixty years has bought, sold, authenticated, and appraised original autographs, books, photographs, artwork, and ephemera related to Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, and American history. Besides being an advisor to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, Weinberg is a director of the Lincoln Forum, the Abraham Lincoln Association, and the Manuscript Society. He is on the executive board of the Professional Autograph Dealers Association and is a past president of the Civil War Round Table. He has helped build some of the major collections in the United States and gives lectures to numerous historical groups.