lookingland

the last couple of weeks, my lincoln assassination collection has attained new heights in obscenity (and my friend

utter_scoundrel just sent me the commemorative issue of Civil War Times Illustrated from 1965 covering the assassination ~ oooo fun!). i admit my collection had already grown obscene when i purchased my second copy of Doster's Lincoln and Episodes of the Civil War (because apparently one copy wasn't enough, and, by the way, they are finally reprinting it after i had been looking for a copy the whole of my life, it seems).

now, i had thought until recently that i was showing a great deal of restraint by not purchasing the Petersen Brothers trial transcript ($500), the Gutman book ($290), or any number of assorted temptations on eBay. but then i suddenly got a wild hair about returning some library books that i have had out for over a year now, and so have just been ordering my own copies of a whole lotta other stuff (this, in preparation for finishing that book i said i would write).

this is what i have acquired in the last week or so in hardback:

Come Retribution ~ i avoided the Tidwell book for years because i thought it might ruin my perfect little Eisenschimlian world. but eventually we all have to face facts. i still think Eisenschiml was on to something, but i'm willing to call off my own personal dogs until further notice.

John Wilkes Booth: A Sister's Memoir ~ oddly, i had never read this until recently. in my own biases, i assumed it could have little merit. but some of her anecdotes are priceless. the one about John and Joe beating the crap outta each other as teenagers over an argument of the placement of a door, and then claiming they had stumbled on a wasp's nest to explain their swollen, bloody faces is worth the cost alone.

Blood on the Moon ~ Steers is pretty much required reading, like Kauffman.

Beware the People Weeping & When the Bells Tolled for Lincoln ~ two analyses of post assassination sentiment. Beware is better than the Bells Tolled book, and includes more detail about public attitudes regarding the conspiracy trial, but both have very interesting things to say.

Katy of Catoctin ~ can any collection be complete without the first piece of lincoln assassination fiction, written by someone who actually stood at the foot of the scaffold in the end?

a couple of pieces that i still want but haven't found reasonably priced copies just yet:

Lincoln in the Telegraph Office ~ there are cheap reprints of this one, but i want an original from 1907. i just don't want to pay $50 for it. go figure.

I Rode with Stonewall the War Experiences of the Youngest Member of Jackson's Staff ~ this is one of those peripheral texts. H. K. Douglas includes a chapter about being dragged to the trial to testify, after which his testimony was stricken from the record as being immaterial (because it didn't corroborate what the commissioners were hoping to corroborate). he also tells one of my favorite incidents from the trial, regarding Anna Surratt fainting in the hallway and Hartranft having her carried into his office.

Why was Lincoln Murdered? ~ Eisenschiml's work is seriously dated and riddled with factual problems after further research, but i still think he has one or two valid questions that have never been answered to my satisfaction (particularly with regards to Eckert and Stanton ~ i don't really understand the current scholarship so cavalier about saying it was no big deal for Stanton to thwart Eckert from going to the theatre for no good reason whatsoever. likewise, am i the only one in the universe who thinks Stanton putting Eckert in charge of Powell was especially suspicious, particularly given that Eckert produced no documentation whatsoever out of the hours they talked together over the next few months?) so yeah, i'd like a copy of this just for keepsies.

The Mad Booths of Maryland ~ i've always wanted a copy of this one. eventually i'll get it.

i also wouldn't mind owning a copy of Thomas Mealey Harris's dreadful account of the business (a wretched book, but goes far to show the commission's attitude and justification for their decisions). This book is also being reprinted (as of January!). Bravo to Kessinger Publishing for making these books available again (and go buy copies since I am too much of a book snob to purchase paperbacks ~ but they totally deserve your support!).

so: anything cherished on your bookshelves? anything you are chomping at the bit to own? i now have more than 20 books, a handful of magazines, and one lonely reel of microfilm (Hartranft's) on the subject, but somehow that doesn't feel like a lot.