Truly nothing is sacred to metal thieves, not even Abe Lincoln.
Thieves have nabbed a 3-foot-long copper sword atop Lincoln’s Tomb in what is believed to be the first theft at the site in more than a century.
An employee noticed last week that the sword was cut from a statue of a Civil War artillery officer, the (Springfield) State Journal-Register reported Saturday. Officials think the sword was stolen sometime between September and early November.
Apparently, though, this is not the first time the sword has been stolen, although the last time was a hundred years ago.
The headline screams that Bill O’Reilly’s book on the Lincoln assassination has been “banned” at Ford’s Theater. Well, not exactly—it’s just not being sold there. Presumably if you walk in with a copy the security guards will not take it away from you.
Why? Misteakes, and not just copy editing.
“Killing Lincoln” suffers from factual errors and a lack of documentation, according to a study conducted by Rae Emerson, the deputy superintendent of Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site, which is a unit of the National Park Service. Emerson’s review recommended that the book not be sold at Ford Theatre’s store.
Having sold a few books myself at various sites I can tell you how the process works: NPS does not sell books but works through concessionaires, in this case Eastern National. In order to sell it you first have to convince EN, then have them submit the book to the Park Service for approval. NPS likes to have books that are factually accurate with lots of footnotes, but readable. Not all books are accepted as there is a limited amount of shelf space. It took me over two years to get my sharpshooter book approved for Manassas. Still, it’s surprising that O’Reilly’s book was not accepted, because it would generate a lot of money.
There is the usual kvetching from academics, who only wish (don’t we all) their books would sell as well.
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