1. "What books are "best""
Posted by audrey on Jan-19th-04 at 12:42 AM

Several years ago we experienced a house fire...

I lost all my Lizzie books and am replacing them.  (Cheaply thanks to ebay!)

I was wondering... What books do you all think are the best to have...

I have already received Arnold Brown's book and that was not one I had before... (interesting to say the least)

I won and am expecting:

Victoria Lincoln's book
Goodbye Lizzie Borden by Robert Sullivan
Lizzie (the untold story) by Frank Spierling.

I have bid on and lost "40 whacks" twice now.. It goes pretty expensive!


The Rebello book-- Is it worth the price??

Opinions please!



(Message last edited Jan-19th-04  12:48 PM.)

Hi Audrey.  What a shame to have lost your collection.

The "best" book I guess is up to each reader. I personally liked Kent's "Forty Whacks" and Radin's "Lizzie Borden: The Untold Story".

Lincoln is well written but contains a few rumors presented as fact and is very petty in spots.

Rebello is more like an encyclopedia than a book. It is considered by most Borden fanatics (me included) to be "the" book to have. It draws heavily from Mr. Rebello's research, public documents and newspapers. As has been said before he expresses no opinions one way or the other. As Joe Friday used to say "Just the facts."  His sources are extremely well documented.

But IMO, the reading all Bordenite's should do is the primary documents. The Witness Statements, the Inquest, the Preliminary hearing and the Trial.  Once a reader has read those they are more able to question what some of the authors state as fact.

Thanks Harry

I have all the trial transcripts available to me in large looseleaf binders.....

I have made many copies--- I continually mark them up!

I like Geary's Graphic treatment, and I like all the videos.
I mentioned to nj that there were some errors in her new Geary.
I was just thinking that a good way to learn about the whole case would be to read the source documents, then go to Geary's *comic* and correct the *facts* which are misrepresented, because it is a short book.
That is an interesting way to test oneself and learn at the same time.
That is something I thought of for serious study of the case, meaning anyone willing.  Not necessarily anyone in particular.

Kat, I missed any post regarding your opinion of Geary's comics,
darn, I wanted to hear what you thought. Can you direct me to the
post?  Often, I will read a thread and wonder "how did I miss all
this"? 
  But I agree with Harry and others about the books, each one has
their own merits.  I am so glad to have Rebello now because he has
a good index!  I think it was definitely worth the price.

Thank you for your interest.
This is my opinion of Geary's comic here.
That it would be a good tool for someone to use to look up the facts.
I'm thinking it would be a good exercise.
In this way people can become Borden scholars.  It's a step, instead of being 'told'.

(Message last edited Jan-19th-04  8:41 PM.)

If I were to build a new library of narratives about the Borden case I would start with Kent (Forty Whacks); Sullivan (Goodbye Lizzie Borden); and Radin (Lizzie Borden: The Untold Story), in that order. Kent describes the murders and their aftermath and at the end leaves it up to the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. Sullivan makes a good case for Lizzie (a survivor who was known to be on the premises at the time) as the killer. Radin identifies Bridget (the only other survivor known to be on the premises) as the murderer.

I would add to the above selections Victoria Lincoln (A Private Disgrace); William Masterton (Lizzie Didn't Do It); Edwin Porter, if you can find his The Fall River Tragedy; and anything written by Edmund Pearson on the case. The books by Arnold Brown (Lizzie Borden The Legend, The Truth, The Final Chapter) and Frank Spiering (Lizzie) are also interesting reads. I understand that Agnes DeMille's book about Lizzie Borden is a good one, though I have not seen it.

Then there is everything else, sourcebooks, transcripts, newspapers, and so on. And, this website contains a wealth of information!

Three more suggested additions to the Lizzie Library:

Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Lizzie A. Borden by Martins & Binette

Yesterday in Old Fall River by Paul Dennis Hoffman
(a book that is frequently maligned, but one that I believe is indispensable for the study of the cast of characters in the Borden case).

Directory of Fall River, 1893 (if you can find one).

(Message last edited Jan-20th-04  11:27 AM.)

David Kent's "40 Whacks" is the "one best book" to cover this case. It has a lavish Bibliography. No mention of either R. Sullivan or A.R. Brown books in the Preface.
AR Brown does have the Final Solution to the crime, in theory. (Theory = an explanation of the known facts by one who was not there as a direct witness.)
Frank Spiering's book has a lot of background material not in other books.
Robert Sullivan's book is also good. Edward Radin's book provides another view into Lizzie and the crime.

Yes, everyone has their favorite, but D Kent wrote the OBB.

But the Trial Transcript only shows what the lawyers allowed in.
Is there any mention of Andy's business dealings (the swindle of the Brayton family, the similar murder of Bertha Manchester)?
The secondary books provide a background that is not mentioned in the Official Documents.

I think Robert Sullivan's book is a Penguin paperback (True Crime).
But nobody (?) has reprinted E. Radin or E. Pearson.
I wonder why?
Libraries have a trade publication that reviews the various books, and makes recommendations to Libraries. Then there is local customs.

Yes you have a point.  but from where do you think these authors get their background?  From rumor, interviewing second or third generations, and from newspapers and public records.  Oh, and from other authors.

Actually, the Witness Statements are considered Primary Sources (to which we are referring), as well as the Inquest which was an informal-type fishing expedition, and the Preliminary Hearing is also more casual than a Trial because they are looking for "Probably Guilty", a lesser thing to prove.

The Trial itself might fit your definition.  But we also have The Knowlton Papers and The Hip-bath Collection of Jennings-- none of these, other than the Trial to which you refer, are straight State talking.

The problem is in getting the background information to appreciate the Official Transcripts.

According to these, Lizzie was NOT GUILTY, and that is that!

Or is there other considerations?

(Message last edited Jan-22nd-04  11:13 AM.)

Is Rebello worth it?  YES!  However, buy through Fall River Historical Society, which maintains a website.  They still have it for the original price of about $50--not the three times that you'll find it going for (if you find it at all) through alibris, etc.
--Lyddie

(Message last edited Jan-28th-04  1:47 AM.)

The Official Transcripts are necessarily limited. They rarely have the background information on any crime, then or now.

Read about any murders in your county recently? A lot more in the newspaper than in the later trial. But you have to weigh and balance the stories told. David Kent discusses this in his book.