2 Lizzie Authors

[MysteryReader]

Has anyone heard of or read either of the following:

Victoria Endicott Lincoln who wrote A Private Disgrace: Lizzie Borden by Daylight OR

Edwin Porter who wrote The Fall River Tragedy: A History of the Borden Murders


Just wondering if they are worth buying.

[twinsrwe]

Yes, I have heard and read both books.

Here are reviews of both books from The Crime Library (Highlighting is mine):

Lincoln, Victoria. 1967. A Private Disgrace: Lizzie Borden by Daylight. G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Victoria Lincoln was a novelist who grew up in Fall River, and, as a child, occasionally talked to Lizzie Borden as Lizzie was out feeding the birds and squirrels in her backyard at Maplecroft. Her family knew the Borden family, and Ms. Lincoln spent her childhood little more than a block away from Lizzie's house on the Hill.

This book asserts that Lizzie planned the murder of her stepmother and then, in order to prevent the father she loved very much from testifying against her, killed him as well.

There are three interesting twists to Lincoln's understanding of the case. The first is that Lizzie suffered from epilepsy of the temporal lobe, and that she committed the first murder while "suffering one of her spells." These epileptic seizures occurred during her menstrual periods, it is reported, and, on August 4, 1892, she was having her period.

The second twist is that Lizzie was indeed in the barn in the time interval she claimed to be say, ten thirty to eleven because there was running water in the barn, where she could remove some of Abby's blood from her skirts and the hatchet. Also, the barn had a large vise, where she could break off the handle of the hatchet, burn the handle in the kitchen stove, and dip the cleaned, wet hatchet head in wood ashes.

Finally, Lincoln proposes that the bloodstained dress was not found because the investigators were men. If Lizzie had been wearing a dress of a fabric other than cotton, then the police would have ignored it, since they were confining their search to "a cotton wrapper." Therefore, all Lizzie had to do was to hang a silk dress worn during the murder of her father under another silk dress, and the bloodstained dress would be overlooked.

Lincoln uses her novelist's skills well, and her analyses seem not only plausible, but entirely possible. Even if what she has produced is fiction, it is pretty good.


Porter, Edwin H. 1893. The Fall River Tragedy. J.D. Munroe, Fall River. (reprinted by Robert Flynn, 1985, King Philip Publications, 466 Ocean Ave., Portland, Me.)

Porter's account is the first thorough work on Lizzie Borden. He was the police reporter for the Fall River Daily Globe, and was an observer of both the investigation and the trial. While he did not explicitly state that Lizzie had committed the crime, his analysis makes it unlikely (in his mind) that the murder could have been done by an outsider. Of the several hundred copies of his book that J.D. Munroe printed, only a few until the recent reprint by Flynn were known to exist. One of those, the copy in the Library of Congress, has disappeared. On the day of its publication, Lizzie, on the advice of Mr. Jennings, bought all the available copies and burned them, although this is an assumption, since there is no direct evidence that she was the purchaser of all but four or five of the volumes. Until the reprint, four of the copies were in the possession of the Fall River Historical Society, and one other was said to be in private hands.


Source: http://tinyurl.com/2tnk7h


Actually, The Fall River Tragedy, can be downloaded here:

http://tinyurl.com/mr2plra

Now, all you need buy is Victoria Lincoln's, A Private Disgrace: Lizzie Borden by Daylight.

I hope this information is of help.

[MysteryReader]

Thanks, Twins!

Yes, Victoria Lincoln's book does sound intriguing!

[twinsrwe]

You are very welcome, Mystery.

I think Allen summed up things, very well, when she posted the following statement on Jan 10, 2005, regarding her take on Victoria and her book:

Victoria Lincoln was a product of the society she grew up in, as was Lizzie. Which is why I think she may have a little more insight into how Fall River society viewed the murders. Sure there are some things she gets wrong, and some of her facts seem to come out of thin air, but you can never take the fact away that she was there, and that she actually knew Lizzie, and was bred in the same society that bred Lizzie.

Yes, there is a lot of controversy over Victoria Lincoln's book, but I think you should read it for yourself and form your own opinions of it.

[Curryong]

Yes, twins, I thoroughly agree with the above assessment of Victoria Lincoln. People on the forum have joked about her and her imagination but there's no doubt that coming from a Fall River family in the early 20th century with Lizzie still alive is a huge advantage for an author.

Give her book a go, Mystery. Just be aware that she does have her own agenda (as many authors on Lizzie have) and is pushing her version of events.

[mbhenty]

Yes:

If you are trying to study the case and become somewhat knowledgable about the murders you really can't escape reading Porter. It is the first look and account to the Borden crime, and one which countless authors fed on when writing their own accounts.

As for Vicky....well, how can I put this and not sound like a rascal?????

Victoria Lincoln would not know Lizzie Borden if she slept in the same bed. The epilepsy issue discredits her and any perspective she offers. I had a friend in high school who had epilepsy. Every student in the building knew it. There was no way to escape exposure to the ailment without an incident or occurrence and flareup of epilepsy, one which many of us witnessed.

To think that Lizzie Borden went through life having epilepsy and only Vicky knew about it or mentioned it is ludicrous. I believe she was just writing a book for the money, and I'm insulted by people like her who write books and intentionally spread mis-information.

To me.......just because she lived next to Lizzie or spoke to her, if she in fact really did, does not give her any headway in knowing Lizzie or about the crime.

I'm from fall river. I live next door to Lizzie's home on French Street, have for almost 25 years. As a matter of fact, the chair I am sitting in right now....Lizzie borden stood right here, under my caboose, since this house belong to her. Does that give me insight and privilege comprehension into Lizzie and the crime? Nope!

That being said, she did come from the same class of people. Her father and grandfather were probably as rich if not richer than Andrew Borden. The talk about the crime in that family, as in many wealthy families in fall river, must have been fierce. But in conclusion, they must have had strong ideas about who committed the crime and be just as right or wrong as anyone on this forum.

Sorry, Vicky. I don't believe a word you wrote. You or your pal Agnes.

[mbhenty]

Did I sound passionate in that last post or What?

[Curryong]

Very passionate, and emphatic at the same time!

[Aamartin]

Truthfully-- as long as you can read a book about the crime and not cling passionately to it's theory-- EVERY Lizzie book is worth reading....

[MysteryReader]

I WOULD love to read all the books regarding Lizzie (just to see what's out there & I read everything!) but I just don't have the money to buy these. Thanks, MB for the heads up. I'm still working my way through Parallel Lives but wanted to see what else was out there. If anyone wants to lend me any materials, I'd be happy to read and mail back to you.

[mbhenty]

Right you are Aamartin:

How can you know good wine if you haven't had the bad.

By all means, you must read Victoria Lincoln's book. Even Agnes de mille's book, Lizzie Borden A Dance of Death, where she describes Lizzie swinging a cat by the tail.

Agnes has been known to burped out such quotes as: "A good education is usually harmful to a dancer" and "A good calf is better than a good head."

In all fairness to those inflicted with the terrible conditions of epilepsy and its seizures, it is more likely they would chop themselves up then those around them.

[Aamartin]

I sent Mystery Reader two books and got them back as promised. She is honest and reliable.

Once my life is more manageable-- not working 12+ hour days and wanting to bawl like a baby every time I get a text/call from work-- I will go through the boxes of books in my spare bedroom and send you a couple more. They used to live on bookshelves in my old bedroom-- but I moved to the downstairs master and packed them all up for my son to move into my room-- now he's gone and I need to get things in order again. The only thing I won't loan out is my Rebello-- not that I don't trust you-- I just fear the USPS!

PS-- The only Lizzie book I would never read is if one was written by the horrible Ayn Rand. I would be too busy vomiting having had touched anything she was even minimally responsible for.

[MysteryReader]

Aww, thanks, Anthony! I'll have to save my pennies for a Rebello. I don't really know who Ayn Rand is- obviously, I've never had to read anything by her. Hubby doesn't like her either.

[MysteryReader]

$330.00 for Rebello:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lizzie-Borden-P ... 1c4cdf92fb

[mbhenty]

There are a couple of Rebello's on the major antiquarian book site ABE.

One must do his homework if one is looking for this title, and ebay is usually the best bargain, though the one listed now is not a bargain at all.

The cheapest of the bunch below lacks it's dust jacket and sounds like it is well used. In the book world the term "good" as a description is not good at all.

Another dealer has 2 for sale and is asking a little less than the one on ebay.

And still another dealer has......well, he has lost his mind.

Place the hook out without a worm and see who bites, I suppose.

click on photo to make big. No, no, not your heels, on the photo.......