The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit Photographer

The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit Photographer

Louis Kaplan

Table of Contents

$24.95 paper
ISBN: 978-0-8166-5157-3

$75.00 cloth
ISBN: 978-0-8166-5156-6

The story of the birth of spirit photography and the controversy surrounding its discovery.

In the 1860s, William Mumler photographed ghosts—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. Mumler’s insistence that his work brought back the dead led to a sensational trial in 1869 that was the talk of the nation.

In The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit Photographer, Louis Kaplan brings together, for the first time, Mumler’s haunting images, his revealing memoir, and rich primary sources, including newspaper articles and P. T. Barnum’s famous indictment of Mumler in Humbugs of the World. Kaplan also contributes two extended essays, which offer a historical perspective of the Mumler phenomena and delve into the sociocultural and theoretical issues surrounding this vivid ghost story.

Mumler’s case was an early example of investigative journalism intersecting with a criminal trial that, at its essence, set science against religion. The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit Photographer is the definitive resource for this unique and fascinating moment in American history and provides insights into today’s ghosts in the machine.

“This book is an important contribution to the growing literature on spirit photography and gives the reader an intimate insight into the world of the Spiritualists and the occult power of the photograph in the 1860s. An extremely valuable resource.” —Martyn Jolly, author of Faces of the Living Dead: The Belief in Spirit Photography

Louis Kaplan is director of the Institute of Communication and Culture at the University of Toronto at Mississauga and associate professor of history and theory of photography and new media in the Graduate Department of Art at the University of Toronto. He is the author of American Exposures: Photography and Community in the Twentieth Century (Minnesota, 2005).

288 pages | 48 b&w photos, 16 color photos | 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 | 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Illustrations
Prologue
Acknowledgments

Introduction: Ghostly Developments

Mumler in the Press: The Beginnings (1862–1863)

P. T. Barnum, Spiritual Photography (1866)

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

Elbridge T. Gerry, The Mumler “Spirit” Photograph Case (1869)

Mumler in the Press: The Trial (1869)

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

Notes
Index



The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit Photographer Louis Kaplan Table of Contents		$24.95 paper ISBN: 978-0-8166-5157-3 $75.00 cloth ISBN: 978-0-8166-5156-6
The story of the birth of spirit photography and the controversy surrounding its discovery. In the 1860s, William Mumler photographed ghosts—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. Mumler’s insistence that his work brought back the dead led to a sensational trial in 1869 that was the talk of the nation. In The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit Photographer, Louis Kaplan brings together, for the first time, Mumler’s haunting images, his revealing memoir, and rich primary sources, including newspaper articles and P. T. Barnum’s famous indictment of Mumler in Humbugs of the World. Kaplan also contributes two extended essays, which offer a historical perspective of the Mumler phenomena and delve into the sociocultural and theoretical issues surrounding this vivid ghost story. Mumler’s case was an early example of investigative journalism intersecting with a criminal trial that, at its essence, set science against religion. The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit Photographer is the definitive resource for this unique and fascinating moment in American history and provides insights into today’s ghosts in the machine. “This book is an important contribution to the growing literature on spirit photography and gives the reader an intimate insight into the world of the Spiritualists and the occult power of the photograph in the 1860s. An extremely valuable resource.” —Martyn Jolly, author of Faces of the Living Dead: The Belief in Spirit Photography Louis Kaplan is director of the Institute of Communication and Culture at the University of Toronto at Mississauga and associate professor of history and theory of photography and new media in the Graduate Department of Art at the University of Toronto. He is the author of American Exposures: Photography and Community in the Twentieth Century (Minnesota, 2005). 288 pages \| 48 b&w photos, 16 color photos \| 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 \| 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations Prologue Acknowledgments Introduction: Ghostly Developments Mumler in the Press: The Beginnings (1862–1863) P. T. Barnum, Spiritual Photography (1866) William H. Mumler, The Personal Experiences of William H. Mumler in Spirit-Photography(1875) Elbridge T. Gerry, The Mumler “Spirit” Photograph Case (1869) Mumler in the Press: The Trial (1869) Conclusion. Spooked Theories: Deconstruction, Psychoanalysis, and the Specters of Mumler Notes Index