 |
Notable British Trials |
Published from 1905 to 1959, this distinguished series of 83 titles is renowned for its scholarship and graceful prose. Although their subject matter is frequently sensational, these books are not thrillers. Instead, they offer comprehensive studies of the most fascinating trials of the distant and recent past for the benefit of lawyers, law enforcement officials, sociologists and general readers.
|
156. Adam, Hargrave L., Editor.
Trial of George Chapman. London: William Hodge & Company,
[1930]. x, [1], 223 pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Original cloth, some
shelfwear, crack between frontispiece and title page. Owner
signature to title page, interior otherwise clean. $50.
* First edition. “George Chapman’s criminal career ended on the
gallows at Wandsworth on 7th April, 1903. It had been proved at the
Central Criminal Court in London, on 16th March and following days,
that he had murdered at least three persons—all of them young women
who had lived with him. In each case his method of murder had been
the same, namely, to dispose of his victim by poisoning her with
antimony. Chapman, whose real name was Severin Klosowski, may well
have been the notorious ‘Jack the Ripper.’”: Catalogue of Notable
British Trials 36.  
157. Adam, Hargrave L., Editor.
Trial of George Henry Lamson. London: William Hodge &
Company, Limited, [1951]. Illustrated. 216 pp. Cloth very good in
lightly worn dust jacket with some
spotting. $45.
* Second edition. Dr. Lamson was tried at the Old Bailey, London,
for the murder of his nephew, Percy Malcolm John. This is one of the
few cases recorded where the poison used was aconitine.
158. Atlay, J.B.
Trial of The Stauntons. London: William Hodge & Company.
[1952]. 327 pp. Plates. Cloth very good in lightly worn dust
jacket. $20.
* Louis Staunton and three relatives were charged with the murder of
Mrs. Louis Staunton by starvation and were all found guilty and
sentenced to death.
159. Blake, George, Editor.
The Trials of Patrick Carraher. London: William Hodge &
Company, Limited. [1951]. xiii, 278 pp. Plates. Original cloth, some
shelfwear, internally clean. $30.
* In 1938 Patrick Carraher was charged with stabbing a man to death.
The jury took a lenient view of the case and returned a verdict of
culpable homicide, and Carraher escaped with a sentence of three
years’ penal servitude. In 1946 Carraher was charged again with
murder by stabbing. This time he was convicted and hanged.
160. Bleackley, Horace, Editor.
Jack Sheppard: With an Epilogue on Jack Sheppard in Literature
and Drama, a Bibliography, a Note on Jonathan Wild, and a Memoir of
Horace Bleackley by S.M. Ellis. London: William Hodge & Company,
Limited. [1933]. xiv, 260 pp. Plates. Original cloth, some
shelfwear, internally clean. $25.
* First edition. “Jack Sheppard accomplished three remarkable
escapes from the prisons of Clerkenwell and Newgate. In the most
celebrated of these escapes he effected his release unaided and
alone, in darkness and with merely a nail and an iron bar (wrenched
from a chimney) for ‘tools.’ His pluck, gaiety, strength, and
endurance, and the bravery with which he met his cruel death at the
gallows at the age of twenty-two, have tinted his otherwise sordid
story with pitiful romance.”: Catalogue of Notable British Trials
28.
161. Blundell, R.H., and G. Haswell Wilson, Editors.
Trial of Buck Ruxton. London: William Hodge and Company,
Limited, [1950]. lxxxvii, 457 pp. Frontispiece.
Illustrations.
Cloth very good in near-fine dust
jacket. $45.
* Second edition. A case renowned for its achievements in forensic
investigation involving the death of Ruxton’s wife and maid, whose
bodies were found under a bridge in Scotland. In this case the
superimposition of photographs of skulls onto existing photographs
of deceased persons was used as evidence for the first time in a
criminal trial.
162. Brooks, Collin, Editor.
The Royal Mail Case: Rex v. Lord Kylsant, and Another.
London: William Hodge & Company, [1933]. xlii, 276 pp. Plates.
Fold-out chart. Original cloth, some shelfwear, internally
clean. $25.
* First edition. The trial of Lord Kyslant in 1931 marked a turning
point in the history of company finance.
163. Carswell, Donald, Editor.
Trial of Ronald True. Edinburgh: William Hodge and Company,
Limited, [1950]. x, 295 pp. Frontispiece. Illustrations. Cloth very
good in lightly worn dust
jacket. $20.
* “Ronald True early evinced signs of abnormality, which increased
in later life when he became a drug addict, suffered from syphilis,
and had two bad aeroplane crashes...Finally after living a vagabond
life, True murdered a prostitute for her valuables...He was tried at
the Central Criminal Court, found guilty and sentenced to death.
This was later respited by the Home Secretary on the ground of
insanity. A great outburst followed this decision...This case of
insanity abounds in interest, especially in view of the medical
defenses put forward in many cases today.”: Catalogue of Notable
British Trials 17.
164. Clark, Geoffrey, Editor.
Trial of James Camb (The Port-Hole Murder).
London: William Hodge and Company, Limited, [1949]. Illustrated. 255
pp. Plates. Cloth very good in worn dust jacket. $20.
* This trial involved, James Camb, a steward aboard the S.S. Durban
Castle who murdered aspiring actress Eileen “Gay” Gibson and pushed
her body out of a port-hole.
165. Critchley, Macdonald, Editor.
The Trial of Neville George Clevely Heath. London: William
Hodge and Company, Limited, [1955]. 238, [1] pp. Plates. Fold-out
map. 238, [1] pp. Original cloth, light shelfwear, fading to spine,
internally clean. $20.
* Heath was convicted and hanged for the torture, sexual assault and
murder of two women in June and July 1946.
166. Duke, Winifred, Editor.
The Trials of Frederick Nodder: The Mona Tinsley Case.
London: William Hodge and Company, [1950]. xiii, 242 pp. Plates.
Fold-out map. Original cloth, some shelfwear and fading to spine,
crease to front board, internally clean. $20.
* First edition. “Readers will find much interest in the passages in
the first trial between the judge and counsel for the defense, who
had much to put up with from the judge’s wit.” Catalogue of
Notable British Trials 21.
167. Dun Boyne, Lord, Editor.
The Trial of John George Haight: The Acid Bath Murder.
London: William Hodge and Company, Limited, 1953. 271 pp. Plates.
Cloth very good in moderately worn dust jacket. Small tear to
half-title, interior otherwise fresh. $45.
* First edition. “For sheer horror no trial of modern times can
surpass that of John George Haigh.... At the trial his confessions
were read in full, and in these he detailed how he killed [eight]
people, drained off and drank a cup of blood in each case, and then
disposed of their bodies in acid” (dust jacket).
168. Fairfield, Letitia, Editor.
The Trial of Peter Barnes and Others (The I.R.A. Coventry
Explosion of 1939). London: William Hodge & Company Limited,
[1953]. xiii, 284 pp. Plates. Fold-out map. Original cloth, some
shelfwear and fading to spine, internally clean. $65.
* First edition. “At 2:30 p.m. on 25th August, 1939 a bomb exploded
in Coventry’s busiest thoroughfare, Broadgate, killing 5 people,
injuring 60, and causing much damage. The accused were charged with
the death of one person, and it was clearly proved that the bomb had
been made at the house of one of them and taken away in a carrier
cycle. Barnes and Richards were convicted and executed, the other
three being acquitted.”: Catalogue of Notable British Trials
22.
169. Godwin, George, Editor.
The Trial of Peter Griffiths (The
Blackburn Baby Murder).
London: William Hodge & Company, Limited, [1950]. 219 pp.
Plates. Cloth fine in moderately worn cellophane
jacket. $40.
* First edition. “[A] little girl of three years eleven months was
stolen from her cot in the Queen’s Park Hospital, Blackburn, taken
into the hospital grounds, criminally assaulted, and then brutally
killed by dashing her head against a wall. Finger-prints were found
on a Winchester bottle in the ward, and the police proceeded to take
the finger-prints of all males over sixteen in the Blackburn
area—the first time mass finger-printing had been contemplated in
England. Eventually the prints were traced to a young ex-guardsman
named Peter Griffiths, who was arrested and tried for the murder at
the Lancaster Assizes in October, 1948.”: Catalogue of Notable
British Trials 24.
170. Hogarth, Basil, Editor.
Trial of Robert Wood (The
Camden Town Case).
London: William Hodge & Company, Limited, [1936]. vi, 268 pp.
Frontispiece. Plates. Original cloth, some shelfwear, fading to
spine and dampspotting, internally clean. $45.
* First edition. “The case furnishes a remarkable precedent of the
first instance in which an accused murderer, availing himself of the
facilities to give evidence on his own behalf bestowed in 1898,
successfully maintained his plea of not guilty.”: Catalogue of
Notable British Trials 37.
171. Hyde, H. Montgomery, Editor.
Trial of Sir Roger Casement. London: William Hodge & Company,
Limited, [1960]. clix, 323 pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Cloth very good
in moderately worn dust
jacket. $45.
* First edition. During WW II, Casement, who had been previously
knighted for services to the British Empire, turned coat and moved
to Germany, where he attempted to incite Irish prisoners of war to
join the Germans. The speech made by Casement from the dock after
conviction is one of the most dramatic in British trial history.
172. Hyde, H. Montgomery, Editor.
Trial of Christopher Craig and Derek William Bentley.
London: William Hodge and Company, [1954]. xi, 263 pp. Plates. Cloth
very good in lightly
worn and soiled dust jacket, corners
bumped. $50.
* First edition. “On the night of 2nd November, 1952, the warehouse
of Messrs. Barlow & Parker...was broken into by [Craig and Bentley]
aged 16-1/2 and 19.... The police were called, and a gun battle
ensued on the roof-top, during which a young constable...was shot
through the forehead and killed instantly.... Both youths appeared
on trial at the old Bailey in December, and after a short hearing
Bentley was sentenced to death and Craig to prison detention on
account of his age....The case is a sad reflection on the
recklessness and wickedness of certain young people of the post-war
era” (dust jacket).
173. Hyde, H. Montgomery, Editor.
The Trials of Oscar Wilde:
Regina (Wilde) v. Queensberry, Regina v. Wilde and Taylor.
London: William Hodge and Company, Limited, [1948]. [viii], [xiv],
384, [1] pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Original cloth, some shelfwear,
bookplate to front pastedown, internally
clean. $15.
* First edition. Convicted for sodomy, Wilde served his sentence at
Reading Gaol, which inspired his essay “De Profundis” and his poem
“The Ballad of Reading Gaol.”
174. Irving, H.B., Editor.
Trial of Mrs. Maybrick. London: William Hodge & Company,
Limited, [1912]. xlvi, 364 pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Original cloth,
some shelfwear, hinges starting. Foxing in a few places, interior
otherwise fresh. Ex-library. Stamps to front pastedown. $15.
* First edition. Mrs. Maybrick was sentenced to death for poisoning
her husband. Her sentence was commuted to life in prison, and she
was paroled fifteen years later. This case is interesting because it
is quite possible that she was not guilty.
175. Irving, H.B., Editor.
Trial of The Wainwrights. London: William Hodge & Company,
Ltd. [1920]. xliv, 235 pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Original cloth,
some shelfwear, internally clean. $25.
* First edition. Henry Wainwright, a married man with a family, led
a double life with a mistress. After suffering a string of financial
reversals he killed his mistress, whom he could no longer afford to
maintain.
176. Jesse, F. Tennyson, Editor.
Trials of Timothy John Evans and John Reginald Halliday Christie.
London: William Hodge & Company, Limited, [1957]. c, 379 pp.
Frontispiece. Plates. Cloth very good in lightly worn dust
jacket. $45.
* First edition. A title in the Notable British Trials series. “The
lives and deaths of Timothy John Evans and John Reginald Halliday
Christie are intermingled for all time. These two men, the one so
ignorant and the other so evil, lived in the same small house....
Both were liars; both were hanged for murder; and all the victims,
from Mrs. Evans and her child to Mrs. Christie and five other women,
were strangled” (Preface).
177. Jesse, F. Tennyson, Editor.
Trial of Thomas John Ley and
Lawrence John Smith (The Chalk Pit Murder).
London: William Hodge & Company, Limited, [1947]. li, 313 pp.
Frontispiece. Plates. Cloth very good in lightly worn dust jacket. $50.
* Second edition. Ley, a distinguished Australian Minister of
Justice and politician was convicted for the murder of his former
mistress (through the use of hired killers). Judged insane, Ley
spent the rest of his life in an asylum. One of the killers turned
King’s evidence, the other was executed.
178. Jesse, F. Tennyson, Editor.
Trial of Alma Victoria Rattenbury and George Percy Stoner.
London: William Hodge & Company, Limited, [1957]. [xiv], 298 pp.
Frontispiece. Plates. Cloth very good in moderately worn dust
jacket. $25.
* Second edition. “‘Daily willing lad, 14-18 for housework.
Scout-training preferred’—these few simple words, inserted in an
advertisement in the Bournemouth Daily Echo, were fated to
bring together two persons into whose lives tragedy entered,
culminating in their joint appearance in the dock at the Old Bailey”
(Preface 1).
179. Jesse, F. Tennyson, Editor.
Trial of Madeleine Smith. London: William Hodge & Company,
Limited, [1927]. [x], 413 pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Original cloth,
light shelfwear, internally
clean. $25.
* Second edition. The 1857 trial of Madeleine Smith for the murder
of her lover by arsenic poisoning ended in an acquittal. Though she
was probably guilty, the court was not able to show how she could
have poisoned him. An autopsy found arsenic in his stomach, but no
evidence of foul play. This mystery has never been solved.
180. Keeton, G.W., and John Cameron, Editors.
The Trial of Gustav Rau, Otto Monsson and Willem Smith: The
“Veronica” Trial. London: William Hodge and Company, Limited,
[1952]. 248 pp. Plates, some fold-out. Cloth very good in lightly
worn dust jacket with faint dampspotting. $45.
* First edition. A tale of accident and strife told by five
survivors who were rescued from a life-boat from the “Veronica” in
1902 proved to be a story of mutiny and murder of their captain and
seven other crew members in cold blood on the high seas.
181. Knott, George H., Editor.
Trial of William Palmer. Revised by Eric R. Watson.
Edinburgh: William Hodge & Company, [1923]. xii, 348, [5] pp.
Frontispiece. Plates. Original cloth, some shelfwear and
discoloration, internally clean. $30.
* Second edition. Three judges were appointed to try this murder
case, a very rare occurrence in England.
182. Melville, Lewis, Editor.
The Trial of The Duchess of
Kingston.
Edinburgh: William Hodge & Co., [1927]. x, 328 pp. Frontispiece.
Plates. Cloth very good in lightly worn and soiled dust
jacket. $60.
* First edition. The Dutchess was tried and convicted on a charge of
bigamy.
183. Normanton, Helena, Editor.
Trial of Alfred Arthur Rouse. Edinburgh: William Hodge and
Company, Limited, [1931]. xlviii, 316 pp. Frontispiece. Plates.
Fold-out map. Original cloth, some shelfwear, fold creases to a few
leaves, internally clean. $20.
* First edition. The “Blazing Car” case demonstrated a new means of
murder, which, curiously, had been employed in Germany some months
before.
184. Parry, Leonard A., Editor.
Trial of Dr. Smethurst. Edinburgh: William Hodge & Company,
[1931]. xiii, 259 pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Original cloth, some
shelfwear, tiny tear to head of spine, internally
clean. $25.
* First edition. In his trial Dr. Smethurst was cleared of a murder
charge and convicted for bigamy.
185. Roughead, William, Editor.
Trial of John Watson Laurie (The Arran Murder).
Edinburgh: William Hodge and Company, Limited, [1932]. x, [2], 285
pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Original cloth, some shelfwear and light
fading to sine. Owner signature to front free endpaper, internally
clean. $45.
* First edition. “John Watson Laurie was tried and convicted at
Edinburgh in 1889 for the Arran murder...Tried for the murder he was
found guilty and received a sentence of death; but this was commuted
to penal servitude for life on the ground of insanity.”:
Catalogue of Notable British Trials 13.
186. Roughead, William, Editor.
Trial of Jessie M’Lachlan. Edinburgh: William Hodge &
Company, Limited, [1950]. xi, 402 pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Cloth
very good in lightly
worn dust jacket
with some discoloration to spine. $35.
* Third edition. After the accused had been convicted of the murder
of her friend and fellow-servant, Jessie McPherson, the Government
took the unusual step of appointing a Crown Commissioner to take
fresh evidence to test the truth of a statement the prisoner had
made after the verdict of guilty had been returned against her, with
the result that the sentence of death was commuted to penal
servitude.
187. Roughead, William, Editor.
Trial of Dr. Pritchard.
Sydney: Butterworth & Co. (Australia), Limited, 1912. 343 pp.
Frontispiece. Plates. Original cloth, moderate shelfwear, fading to
spine, front hinge cracked but secure, internally clean. $25.
* First edition. Dr. Pritchard was charged with the murder of his
wife and mother-in-law. He was found guilty, and his execution, on
July 28, 1865, was the last public execution in Scotland.
188. Roughead, William, Editor.
Trial of Oscar Slater. Edinburgh: William Hodge and Company,
[1949]. lxxx, 321 pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Fold-out maps. Cloth
very good in lightly worn dust jacket with some discoloration to
spine. $35.
* Fourth edition. This murder trial is famous because the convict
was found to have been illegally convicted when the case was
appealed eighteen years later, within twenty-four hours of his
intended execution. He was given a monetary award to compensate for
his years in prison. Arthur Conan Doyle was among those who drew
public attention to the case and provoked the appeal. See
illustration on page 31.
189. Rowan-Hamilton, S.O., Editor.
Trial of John Alexander Dickman.
London: William Hodge, [1926]. viii, [2], 208 pp. Original cloth,
some shelfwear, foxing to endleaves, internally clean. $35.
* Second edition, revised. Dickman was tried in 1910 for a murder he
committed in a railway carriage.
190. Steuart, A. Francis, Editor.
Trial of Mary Queen of Scots.
London: William Hodge & Company. [1951]. 206 pp.
Frontispiece. Plates. Cloth very good in lightly worn dust jacket with some discoloration to spine. $40.
* Second edition. The trial of Mary Queen of Scots was the first
trial of a crowned sovereign in historic times. Included in this
volume are the State Trial, a description of the legal processes
that led to it and a rare account of the Queen’s last hours. See illustration below.
191. Watson, Eric R.
Adolf Beck (1877-1904). Edinburgh: William Hodge and Company,
[1924] xi, [1], 296 pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Original cloth, some
shelfwear, front endleaves lacking, internally clean. Ex-library.
Stamp to front pastedown. $20.
* First edition. The trial of Adolf Beck (1904) is a remarkable
example of a genuine miscarriage of justice. Tried, convicted, and
sentenced to seven years of penal servitude, Beck was later proven
innocent. The Beck case led to the creation of the Court of Criminal
Appeal in 1907.
192. Watson, Eric R., Editor.
Trial of George Joseph Smith (The ‘Brides in the
Bath’ Murders).”
London: William Hodge and Company, Limited, [1949]. x, 329 pp.
Frontispiece. Plates. Cloth very good in moderately worn dust
jacket. $25.
* Second edition. Smith was executed for the first of three
mercenary murders where he proved the simplicity of drowning an
adult woman in a bathtub without inflicting any bruises. It is
considered the most important case since Rex
v.
Palmer due to its complexity, the vast number of witnesses involved
and the intricacy of the forensic evidence. See illustration below.
193. Wilson, John G., Editor.
The Trial of Jeannie Donald. London: William Hodge and
Company, Limited, [1953]. 305 pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Original
cloth, some shelfwear, bookplate to front pastedown, internally
clean. $35.
* First edition. The murder of a little girl in Aberdeen resulted in
one of the most outstanding trials at the Scottish Bar. In this case
a very high degree of medical skill was brought to bear by the
prosecution, including an expert bacteriologist, and the trial is
exceptional in this respect.
194. Young, Filson, Editor.
Trial of Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson. London:
William Hodge & Company, [1923]. xxxii, 261 pp. Frontispiece.
Plates. Original cloth, some shelfwear. Owner inscription to front
pastedown, interior otherwise clean. $35.
* First edition. Bywaters and Thompson were jointly charged with the
murder of Mrs. Thompson’s husband. Despite evidentiary letters to
her lover at sea describing alleged early attempts she had made on
her husband’s life, the lack of a witness made a weak case for the
prosecution. It is unlikely that they would have been convicted
without the testimony of Mrs. Thompson, who insisted on testifying
and ultimately incriminated Bywaters and herself.
195. Young, Filson, Editor.
The Trial of Hawley Harvey Crippen. Edinburgh: William Hodge
& Company, [1950]. xxxv, 211, [1] pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Cloth
very good in moderately worn and dampspotted dust
jacket. $25.
* Crippen claimed that his wife died while on a trip to California.
This was a lie. He murdered her and buried her in the cellar of his
house. See illustration below.
196. Young, Filson, Editor.
Trial of The Seddons. Edinburgh: William Hodge & Company,
[1914]. xxx, 420 pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Original cloth, some
shelfwear, internally clean. $25.
* First edition. “The trial of Mr. and Mrs. Seddon for the murder of
Miss Barrow, their wealthy lodger, took place at the Old Bailey, and
occupied ten days...The jury convicted Seddon and acquitted his
wife, although the evidence against him pressed just as heavily upon
her.”: Catalogue of Notable British Trials 16.
|
|
