L'assassinat du Président Lincoln

[Eva Elisabeth]

(02-14-2015 02:46 PM)BettyO Wrote:  Fascinating find, Dave! Thanks so very much! I bet Eva can most definitely translate this!

I've skimmed some pages. The book is written as a novel and in a hilarious way inaccurate - e.g. it reveals Mrs Surratt was definitely guilty and involved, and Atzerodt was the true brain of the conspiracy: Mrs. Surratt leads the discussion between the conspirators as for how to kidnap the president and asks the others to come up with plans and suggestions. Atzerodt suggests to kidnap him by stopping his carriage and bringing him in another carriage to the Mississippi near Alexandria (YES!!! And the author was an army officer and Governor of Virginia!). O'Laughlin: "Oh, yes, I see, and Harold and I will row him across the Mississippi. Another carriage will wait on the other side and take him via Leesburg to Richmond." Atzerodt: "Exactly. This is my plan."

As for the German audience - it was certainly huge since 516,000 Germans and about 216,000 German-born soldiers fought in Union army. Several Lincoln biographies were published in the 19th and early 20th century, either translations from English or directly written by Germans, e.g. Carl Schurz. In 1928, even a drama ("Abraham Lincoln - Ein Schauspiel") was written by a German author and performed at prestigious theaters. Also Thomas Dixon's 1920 play, "A Man of the People: A Drama of Abraham Lincoln" had been translated into German.