William Mumler’s Spirit Photography

Record summary

William H. Mumler became famous for photographs that appeared to show deceased relatives or spirit figures beside living sitters, including a widely circulated image associated with Mary Todd Lincoln. His practice linked new photographic technology to Spiritualist mourning and visual evidence. Mumler was prosecuted for fraud in New York in 1869 and acquitted, while critics proposed double exposure, reused negatives, studio manipulation, and staged presentation. The case is valuable for examining how technical novelty, grief, commerce, and belief interacted in nineteenth-century occult culture.