The Lincoln Assassination: The Evidence

by William C. Edwards, Edward Steers (Editor)

On April 22, 1865, Brevet Colonel H. L. Burnett was assigned to head the investigation into the murder of President Abraham Lincoln and the attempted murder of Secretary of State William H. Seward. Burnett orchestrated the collection of thousands of documents for the Military Commission’s trial of the conspirators. This deep archive of documentary evidence--consisting of letters, depositions, eyewitness accounts, investigative reports, and other documents--provides invaluable insight into the historical, cultural, and judicial context of the investigation. Only a fraction of the information presented in these documents ever made its way into the trial, and most of it has never been readily accessible. By presenting an annotated and indexed transcription of these documents, this volume offers significant new access to information on the events surrounding the assassination and a vast new store of social and political history of the Civil War era. “With tears in my eyes I think it your duty to hang every rebel caught. I feel as bad as if was my own mother or father & will be one to volunteer to try & shoot every Southern man. May God have mercy on the man’s soul that done such a deed.
With much Respect for our Country,
I remain
Weeping”
--Anonymous letter, New York, April 15, 1865 “I know Booth. He was in the habit of coming to my place to shoot. . . . He shot well, and practiced to shoot with accuracy in every possible position. . . . He was a quick shot; always silent, reticent.”
--Deposition of Benjamin Barker, Pistol Gallery proprietor

1456 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2009

Reviews

[Boots LookingLand · Rating 3 out of 5]

so i have knocked a number of stars off of this after having a chance to begin reading it. the text itself is amazing (you cannot argue the sheer volume of pages and the joy of having a transcription of them all). however, in typical steers fashion, the organization is atrocious.

he's removed everything from the LAS folders (so much for the principal and integrity of original order), and placed the materials alphabetically by last name.

except when the last name is unknown.

or when he decides that the addressee is more important.

or when there's something in the subject matter that pertains to an interesting third party.

or when it just seems better to clump stuff together.

in other words: no actual order at all.

for those of us glad to thumb through the physical copy rather than the digital one, huzzah. maybe it's still worth the hefty price tag. but don't hope it's necessarily going to make finding anything any easier.

feh.

you can assume this will live on my "currently reading" list indefinitely.