The Insanity File
The Case of Mary Todd Lincoln
Southern Illinois University Press
Will be published approx. on 1. November 1986
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-0-8093-1311-2 (ISBN)
Description
Reviews / Votes
"[This book] combines the discipline of historical writing with the forward march of a detective story. And it is painstakingly fair to both the pathetic Mary and the tortured Robert. Filled with confident insight and careful documentation, this book must already be considered as an essential addition to the Lincoln bookshelf." -Harold Holzer, ChicagoTribune"One of the saddest stories in the Lincoln family saga unfolds in detail for the first time in The Insanity File-the1875 jury trial to declare Mary Todd Lincoln insane and the role played in it by Robert Todd Lincoln, her firstborn and only surviving son."-Herbert Mitgang, New YorkTimes BookReview
"Neely and McMurtry had to acquaint themselves with the principals in the case, study the judicial procedures and medical practices prevailing in the 1870s, piece together from here and there items of information relating to the trial, and trace historical controversies that have unfolded through the years. Their sensitive and thorough research has led them to the conclusion that Mrs. Lincoln was treated fairly, that human considerations and civil justice did not work to Mrs. Lincoln's disadvantage."-Myron A. Marty, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"A fair-minded, comprehensive account based on new documents. Unlike their predecessors, Neely and McMurtry have placed Mary Lincoln's trial within the legal, social, and medical context of the times. So viewed, what happened to Mary Lincoln was governed as much by procedures and collective attitudes as by personal motivations."-Jean Baker, American Historical Review
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Carbondale
United States
Illustrations
25
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-8093-1311-2 (9780809313112)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
03/1993
1st Edition
Southern Illinois University Press
€27.99
Available for download
Persons
Mark E. Neely, Jr., professor of history at Saint Louis University, is the author of The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia and the Pulitzer Prize winning The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties.
R. Gerald McMurtry headed the department of Lincolniana at Lincoln Memorial University and was editor of the Lincoln Herald from 1937 to 1956, when he became director of the Lincoln National Life Foundation (now the Louis A. Warren Lincoln Library and Museum).
R. Gerald McMurtry headed the department of Lincolniana at Lincoln Memorial University and was editor of the Lincoln Herald from 1937 to 1956, when he became director of the Lincoln National Life Foundation (now the Louis A. Warren Lincoln Library and Museum).