Shooting Lincoln: Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner...

[RJNorton]

Thanks to Bob Cook for sending this link:

https://www.amazon.com/Shooting-Lincoln-...0306824698

[Eva Elisabeth]

So undeserved Brady died in poverty as we owe him so much.

[RJNorton]

There is an interview with the author here:

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/bo...35908.html

[Darrell]

There is an interview with the author here:

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/bo...35908.html

Thanks for the interview link, Roger. I found the author's comment about the Lincoln coffin photo interesting. Mr. Pistor said that "Brady was so well-connected to the government machinery that he was able to destroy the photo or get it confiscated."

That's not quite the story that I've always heard. Was Brady really that instrumental in Stanton's order to have the photo seized?

[RJNorton]

Was Brady really that instrumental in Stanton's order to have the photo seized?

Darrell, I had never previously read that either. Also, the author says Stanton showed the surviving print to Robert Lincoln (who thought it was in poor taste). I do not remember ever reading before that Robert was consulted about the print. There is no endnote for this - has anyone ever read that Robert was consulted about the photo?

[Darrell]

Was Brady really that instrumental in Stanton's order to have the photo seized?

Darrell, I had never previously read that either. Also, the author says Stanton showed the surviving print to Robert Lincoln (who thought it was in poor taste). I do not remember ever reading before that Robert was consulted about the print. There is no endnote for this - has anyone ever read that Robert was consulted about the photo?

According to Mike Kauffman, after the first plate was destroyed, Gurney - thinking the Lincolns would want the photo - intervened through General Dix to have Stanton ascertain the family's wishes. However, Robert Lincoln concurred with Stanton; therefore, the second plate was also destroyed. (Of course, one proof survived in Stanton's files; resurfacing in 1952 with Ron Rietveld's historic find.)

The above is from page 303 of American Brutus. My copy is in storage, but I found that page on Google Books (link below). I'm not sure whether Kauffman indicated an original source for the Stanton/Robert Lincoln consultation.

https://books.google.com/books?id=UpeODQ...to&f=false

[RJNorton]

The above is from page 303 of American Brutus. My copy is in storage, but I found that page on Google Books (link below). I'm not sure whether Kauffman indicated an original source for the Stanton/Robert Lincoln consultation.

There is an endnote for the last sentence of the paragraph where Robert is mentioned. The last sentence is as follows: "Somehow one proof survived, which Stanton kept in his files."

I checked Jason Emerson's Giant in the Shadows. Jason mentions Stanton visiting Robert daily after the assassination, but there is no mention of the photo being discussed.

I wonder if it is just "assumed" the photo was discussed with Robert. The majority of books I have read just mention Stanton alone as the decision-maker. I never realized the possibility that others may have been brought into the discussion/decision.