The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit PhotographerIn the 1860s, William Mumler photographed ghostsa or so he claimed. Faint images of the dearly departed lurked in the background with the living, like his well-known photo of the recently assassinated Abraham Lincoln comforting Mary Todd. 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. Mumlera 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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Andrew Jackson Davis appeared artist asked Banner of Light Barnum beautiful believe Boston called camera Court dead death deceased defence Derrida desired Dowling Edmonds evidence fact father Female Spirit FIGURE fraud Freud gallery gentleman Gerry ghost story ghostly developments glass Guay hand Harper's Weekly haunting hauntology humbug Ibid images investigation invisible Jacques Derrida lady Lincoln look Mabel Mary Todd Lincoln means medium mediumship mourning Mumler Spirit negative obtained P. T. Barnum Paul Getty Museum picture taken plate position present prisoner produced prosecution received recognized remarkable says scientific seen sitter sitting skeptics Specters of Marx spectral spirit form spirit photography spirit pictures Spiritualist spooked statement supernatural swindle testimony told Tombs Police Court took Tooker Townsend trial trick truth uncanny Unidentified W. H. Mumler watched wife William H William Mumler witness York York World