An Authentic Account of the Proceedings Under a Writ of Enquiry of...
Adultery Trial Involving a Wealthy Heiress, A Member of Parliament and the Diplomat who Acquired the Elgin Marbles [Trial]. Ferguson, William [Robert] [1769-1840], Defendant. An Authentic Account of the Proceedings Under a Writ of Enquiry of Damages, In an Action in the Court of King's Bench, In Which the Right Hon. The Earl of Elgin was Plaintiff, And William Ferguson, Esq. Defendant, For Criminal Conversation with the Plaintiff's Wife: Executed Before the Sheriff of Middlesex, And a Special Jury, On the 22d of December, 1807: Verdict ?.10,000. London: Printed for J. Hatchard, 1808. [ii], 113, [1] pp. Octavo (8-1/2" x 5"). Stab-stitched pamphlet, edges untrimmed, bound in later pebbled cloth, gilt title to spine. Some bubbling to boards, small bookseller's ticket and bookplate (of Geoffrey Briggs) to front pastedown, front hinge cracked after title page. Moderate toning to interior, negligible light foxing to a few leaves, light soiling to first and final pages. $750. * Only edition. Mary Hamilton Bruce [1778-1855], Countess of Elgin, was the wife of British diplomat Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin [1766-1841], best known for his acquisition of the sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens, the Elgin Marbles. Ferguson, also spelled Fergusson, was a Whig Member of Parliament and an amateur geologist. When the earl discovered his wife's affair with Ferguson, he sued him and won ?10,000. (almost ?1,000,000. today). A divorce followed. Ferguson then married her on 20 April 1808. Our copy was owned by Sir Geoffrey Briggs [1914-1993], an English lawyer and judge who served as Chief Justice of Hong Kong and Brunei. Accounts of this trial are scarce, including ours. OCLC locates 7 copies of this title, 3 in law libraries (Harvard, University of Minnesota, Library of Congress).
Price: $750.00
Book number 73464