Medical Opinion in the Parish Will Case, New York, 1857.
A Notable Nineteenth-Century Will Case Involving Codicils and Questions of Sanity [Trial]. [Parish Will Case]. Earle, Pliny. [1809-1892]. Medical Opinion in the Parish Will Case. New York: John F. Trow, 1857. 69 pp. Octavo (9-1/4" x 6"). Stab-stitched pamphlet in printed wrappers. Light soiling to exterior, spine abraded, wrappers partially detached at ends, light wear to corners, moderate toning to interior, lower corners lacking from final leaf and rear wrapper with no loss to text, "Hon: Charles Allen, Worcester, Mass." in contemporary hand to head of title page, small check-mark next to author name, which is underlined. $450. * Only edition. Henry Parish, a New York merchant, died in 1856, at age 69. He left a will made in 1842 that had been amended with three codicils signed by him some time after suffering a paralyzing stroke in 1849. These codicils were contested on the grounds of mental impairment. This trial attracted a good deal of attention and it involved testimony by several leading medical and legal experts. At time of this pamphlet's publication Bell was president of the Massachusetts Medical Society and a former superintendent of the McLean Asylum for the Insane near Boston. OCLC locates 1 copy (at SUNY-Albany). Not in Cohen, which lists a composite volume by Trow that includes this title. See Bibliography of Early American Law 11386.
Price: $450.00
Book number 69490