Saturday, June 30, 2018

DC TRIP: The Last of the Gettysburg Dioramas


Yep, here are more dioramas,with closer looks at each. This first scene shows the Iron Brigade capturing the Rebs in the Railroad Cut.







Here's General Meade's HQ on Cemetary Hill.









This one recreates a famous photo taken in the Devil's Den.

Friday, June 29, 2018

Forgotten Stories: Captain Blood in "THE PRIZE" by Rafael Sabatini (1921)


You may have noticed that Captain Blood in one of my favorite books. (If you haven't, look HERE.)  So . . . while perusing comicbookplus, I was mighty pleased to come across this fine sample from the July 1, 1921 of Adventure magazine. "The Prize" is one of nine stories originally published in Adventure that Sabatini stitched together to form the novel in 1922. This is pirate adventure history in the making.

P.S. Two more of my favorites books are the story collections Captain Blood Returns (aka The Chronicles of Captain Blood) and The Fortunes of Captain Blood.  Check them out!










Thursday, June 28, 2018

DC TRIP: Booth did NOT act alone . . .


. . . or so the Military Court ruled, and had these other four people hanged. It's pretty certain Payne and Atzerodt knew what Booth was up to. David Herold was just a fan who did his best to help Booth escape. These rope souvenirs and the rest of this stuff reside in the Ford's Theater museum. 


This lucky duck had a ticket to the hanging.

 George Atzerodt was supposed to kill VP Andrew Johnson, but chickened out. This knife was found in his hotel room.

Lewis Payne (or Powell) did his best to kill Secretary of State Seward with a knife, but it wasn't good enough. He used this gun to bludgeon others in the house. 

Mary Surrat ran the boarding house where the conspirators met. She may or may not have known what they were planning.

The key to Mary's cell.

Shackles worn by Dr. Mudd, who treated Booth's leg when he was on the run, and probably knew nothing of the assassination. He spent a couple of years in prison before being released.

Mudd's handcuffs. 

Tuesday, June 26, 2018