{"product_id":"the-circus-as-custodian-of-dale-r-albrecht-9798254573487","title":"The Circus as Custodian of a Mystery: The John Wilkes Booth Mummy","description":"\"Previously published as The Circus as Custodian of a Mystery: The John Wilkes Booth Mummy\"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA vanished mummy. A family circus. A mystery that refuses to die.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor generations, the story of the \u003ci\u003eJohn Wilkes Booth mummy\u003c\/i\u003e has haunted American folklore-an artifact whispered about in sideshows, debated by historians, and dismissed as a hoax. But for author \u003cb\u003eDale R. Albrecht\u003c\/b\u003e, the legend was never abstract. It lived inside his own family.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Albrecht discovered that his great-grandfather, circus owner \u003cb\u003eJay Gould\u003c\/b\u003e, once purchased and exhibited a mummy claimed to be John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln, the mystery became personal. Even more astonishing was the revelation that the original 1937 purchase agreement-long thought lost-named Albrecht's family as custodians of the remains.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on \u003cb\u003earchival documents, family papers, rare photographs, and his mother's childhood memories\u003c\/b\u003e of peeking over the velvet barricade to stare into the face of the infamous mummy, Albrecht reconstructs the strange journey of the body that toured America for decades. From the arsenic-preserved corpse found in an Oklahoma hotel room to the circus tents of the Midwest, the Booth mummy became a cultural phenomenon-examined by scientists, pursued by showmen, and eventually lost to history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWas it truly Booth? Or the greatest sideshow illusion ever staged?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Circus as Custodian of a Mystery\u003c\/i\u003e explores the blurred line between fact and folklore, revealing how a single artifact can shape memory, myth, and identity. Part family history, part historical investigation, and part American legend, this book invites readers into a world where circus tents, forensic puzzles, and Civil War echoes collide.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA forgotten chapter of American history comes alive-one preserved body, one traveling circus, and one family at the center of it all.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Dale R. Albrecht\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798254573487\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 48\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.23lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.12d","brand":"Dale R. Albrecht","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48659812057343,"sku":"9798254573487","price":10.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-circus-as-custodian-of-dale-r-albrecht-9798254573487","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}