William H. Mumler

William H. Mumler
William H. Mumler
	A May 1869 engraving illustration of Mumler in Harper's Magazine
Born	1832
Died	1884 (aged 51–52)
Occupation	Photographer
Known for	Spirit photography

William H. Mumler (1832–1884) was an American spirit photographer who worked in New York City and Boston.^[1] His first spirit photograph was apparently an accident—a self-portrait which, when developed, also revealed the "spirit" of his deceased cousin. Mumler then left his job as an engraver to pursue spirit photography full-time, taking advantage of the large number of people who had lost relatives in the American Civil War. His two most famous images are the photograph of Mary Todd Lincoln with the ghost of her husband Abraham Lincoln and the portrait of Master Herrod, a medium, with three spirit guides.

Mumler was eventually taken to court and tried for fraud and larceny. Noted showman P. T. Barnum testified against him. He was later acquitted by a judge, and his photography career continued. Today, Mumler's photographs are recognized as fakes but they circulated widely during the last quarter of the 19th century and were marketed as objects of belief and visual curiosities both within and beyond the spiritualist movement.^[2] He later discovered a process, called the "Mumler Process", by which photo-electrotype plates could be produced and printed more easily.

^ Boston Directory. 1873
^ Natale, Simone (2016). Supernatural Entertainments: Victorian Spiritualism and the Rise of Modern Media Culture. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 147–149. ISBN 978-0-271-07104-6.

[1] Boston Directory. 1873

[2] Natale, Simone (2016). Supernatural Entertainments: Victorian Spiritualism and the Rise of Modern Media Culture. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 147–149. ISBN 978-0-271-07104-6.

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