The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit Photographer

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More About This Textbook

Overview

In the 1860s, William Mumler photographed ghosts-or so he claimed. The practice came to be known as spirit photography, and some believed Mumler was channeling the dead. Skeptics, however, called it a fraudulent trick on the gullible, taking advantage of the grieving at a time of suffering and loss. Mumler's insistence that his work brought back the dead led to a sensational trial in 1869 that was the talk of the nation.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780816651566
  • Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
  • Publication date: 10/24/2008
  • Pages: 264
  • Product dimensions: 6.10 (w) x 9.40 (h) x 0.90 (d)

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Prologue xv

Acknowledgments xix

Introduction: Ghostly Developments 1

Mumler in the Press: The Beginnings (1862-1863) 35

P. T. Barnum, Spiritual Photography (1866) 59

William H. Mumler, The Personal Experiences of William H. Mumler in Spirit-Photograph (1875) 69

Elbridge T. Gerry, The Mumler "Spirit" Photograph Case (1869) 140

Mumler in the Press: The Trial (1869) 180

Conclusion. Spooked Theories: Deconstruction, Psychoanalysis, and the Specters of Mumler 211

Notes 245

Index 257

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